


Thalia Grace and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

by iHateFridays



Series: Thalia Grace and the Olympians [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, F/M, PJO AU, Percy Jackson AU, Slight mentions of HOO, Thalia-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-10-19 20:31:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 43,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17608430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iHateFridays/pseuds/iHateFridays
Summary: AU! What if Thalia was never turned into a pine tree? What if, instead of Percy, she was destined to be the hero of the Great Prophecy? Thalia knew things weren't going to be easy, but when her father's lightning bolt is stolen, it's up to her and some friends to retrieve it before the world is plunged into a godly war. And to make things worse, not all the gods want her alive...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh hello!
> 
> I'm nervous about posting this. XD But yeah, this is a new story I'm working on! This is an AU where Thalia does not turn into a pine tree. ;p I'm going to try and do all 5 PJO books, if I don't lose interest. Hopefully I won't.
> 
> I won't be discontinuing my other PJO fanfic, so don't fret if you're reading it. Updates may be slower though...
> 
> Well, enough talking. I hope you like the first chapter!

Look, you don't want to be a half-blood.

Yeah, it may sound cool being half-god, but it's not. Your chance of death increases by a ton. Wherever you go, monsters will be right behind, trying to kill you. There's only one safe place for you in the entire world. If anything in here sounds like you, or resonates something inside you, close this story right now. Believe whatever lies your parents told you. You really don't want this life. Trust me. Keep your innocence, okay? You have no idea how important it is.

My name is Thalia. I'm 12 years old. I'm a demigod, daughter of Zeus. Yep, the Greek gods are real. I'd known that since I was a young kid; my mom would never shut up about my dad being King of the Gods. Anyway. My friends and I had just been chased by a gazillion monsters and I almost died, and my friend went into a coma. That probably sounds really messed up for you mortals out there. Let me backup a bit.

2 years ago, I ran away from home, where I used to live with my mother and my dead little brother. Long story short, my mom was a crazy alcoholic that kept doing stupid stunts to keep herself in the tabloids. We never got on well; she abandoned me. After Jason died, I'd had enough and I ran away.

I kept getting attacked by monsters, but trust me, it was a lot better than living with my crazy mother. During my travels, I ran into this guy named Luke Castellan, who was also getting attacked by monsters. He was a demigod, too, by the way. We agreed to work together, and travelled across the country. On the way, we also ran into a plucky, blonde, seven year-old named Annabeth Chase, who was, yep, also a demigod. And the three of us were a team. No.

We were a family.

We had a lot of good memories, running around together. And some bad ones as well. Like almost dying. A lot. And... Luke started acting differently after we visited his mother's house. He wasn't as sweet anymore; he acted like he had something to prove. He never talked to me about it, though, no matter how much I nagged him. Annabeth didn't seem to think anything was wrong. Then again, she looked up to Luke like a big brother. Annabeth was childish, but she was smart and she was tough. Once, we would've got killed by a Cyclops if it weren't for Annabeth stabbing its foot. So yeah, don't mess with Annabeth. Or any of us.

After a lot of travelling, a satyr (they're real too) named Grover Underwood found us. He led us to a place called Camp Half Blood, the only safe place for demigods. I wish I could say 'we got there safely'. Nope! We were chased by a bunch of monsters that looked like they came straight from the Underworld. They probably did. Oh yeah. Underworld's real too. Fun.

The monsters chased us up a hill. There were tons of them, including the Furies. They were especially after me, for some reason. I was holding out my shield, Aegis (which has Medusa's face on it, so it scares all my enemies) and my spear. I wasn't really doing a good job of surviving. Everywhere hurt, and my vision was blurry. It hurt to breathe. But I sat up. If I was going to die, I wasn't going to die lying around.

"Thalia!" Annabeth screamed, trying to get out of Luke's grasp. I gave her a reassuring smile, telling her to keep going. I didn't want to see my friends get hurt, either. I'd never forgive myself if they died.

A monster appeared above me. I gave it a determined look. It raised its claws.

Then, suddenly, Annabeth managed to get out of Luke's grasp. Time seemed to slow down. She ran in front of me, taking the blow.

My heart stopped.

"ANNABETH!" I screamed. She fell to the ground, twitching. Rage made blood pound through my ears. I wanted to tear those monsters to pieces, but I could barely stand up. Luke grabbed my arm and pulled me away, while I kept screaming Annabeth's name. Lightning filled the sky, and I reached out my hand to Annabeth. My vision was getting darker.

"Annabeth..." I muttered. There was a sign above her head. An owl.

"A sign of Athena," a voice said. It belonged to a centaur, a half-horse, half-human. He trotted over to us. I couldn't think of his name, but he looked familiar.

"Welcome, demigods," he said, with a bit of sadness, "to Camp Half-Blood."

And then I passed out.


	2. I hate welcomes

**A/N: Just wanted to say, I have a deviantART, iHateFridays, where I post art for this story and others. I have tumblr too, fridayhater. If you're reading this on FFN, Max is my profile pic. ;p**

* * *

Turns out, being a child of the Big Three was pretty much illegal.

My father and his brothers (surprise surprise, the Big Three) had this pact to not have anymore kids because of this big prophecy. Basically, the prophecy says a child of the Big Three will either save or destroy Olympus. Fun, right?

So yeah, no one at Camp Half Blood liked me except for Luke and Grover. (And Annabeth, but she was MIA.) Stupid campers. Their loss. I didn't like  _them_  either!

Camp hadn't treated me to a warm welcome. First, I almost  _died_ , and then everyone hated me, and it was my dad's fault. Great. But being me, I'd deal. I'm not a wimp. I already knew about Greek myths and all, and Grover had told me bits and pieces about camp. I knew the gods followed the flame of West, and right now, their influence was all over America. Kindergarten stuff, all demigods knew it. Back to the topic of Camp Half Blood. The camp director, Mr. D, or Dionysus, kept getting my name wrong and, well, just annoyed me in general.

"So, Tabitha," he said.

"Thalia." I corrected.

"Whatever, Tara," he waved his hand. "You will be staying in Cabin 1. Don't expect me to be thrilled we share the same father, I have enough siblings already."

"Trust me," I grumbled. "I'm not."

So I got to sleep in Cabin 1, Zeus' cabin, which had this really big, hippie statue of my dad watching me while I slept. Luke's cabin (Hermes' cabin, number 11) was a lot nicer, though it was packed and run-down. And I'm pretty sure one of the members stole my freaking shield. Don't worry, Luke got it back for me. He's sexy- I mean awesome like that.

I got a bit of a tour around camp as well. I suppose, it was a nice camp; lots of Greek buildings, statues, huge strawberry fields. It wasn't too hot, just a pleasant temperature; most people were running around and having fun. There was a forest there too, and if I looked hard enough I could see nymphs and satyrs racing through the trees.

And there were plenty of cabins. 12, one for each Olympian god.

I felt a pang every time I passed Athena's cabin. Annabeth was alive, thankfully, but she had fallen into a coma. She was in the infirmary, recovering. Luke and I visited everyday. Seeing her like that made me feel like I'd been stabbed in the heart.  _I_  should've taken that blow.

But Luke said I would've died if I did. This was better. Annabeth was alive. Unconscious, but  _alive_.

"Thalia," Chiron, the activities director, got my attention. Thankfully he was a  _lot_  nicer than Mr. D. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I snapped. My face softened. "I mean, I'm fine. Thanks, sir."

Chiron didn't look like he believed me. "Very well. This way to the dining pavilion."

Oh, the dining pavilion. It was awesome getting to sit by myself without being squished next to someone. Just kidding. I was so lonely and bored there. No one would look at me, aside from the guys I mentioned before. It sucked. Once again, stupid campers.

Chiron showed me to the Pegasus stables, too.

"As a daughter of Zeus, I am sure you will love being up in the air." Chiron said, smiling.

"Sure," I said, trying not to laugh nervously. I felt prickles of anger. Just because I was the daughter of Zeus didn't mean I wanted to go sky-diving or whatever. I didn't like being like my father. Thinking about him started making me  _really_  mad, so I hummed some music to distract myself. We went to the armoury next, and Chiron started talking about all the weapons and such. I saw a few that looked alright, but I was going to stick with my shield and spear. They were the best, of course.

Chiron showed me some more of the camp, like satyrs and campers playing volleyball, and a closer look at the forest, where nymphs were hanging out. He also explained there were monsters in there, for practice reasons.

"Now make yourself at home, Thalia," the centaur said. "Your timetable is in your cabin."

"Got it," I said. "Thanks."

I wasn't sure how 'at home' I could be, honestly.

* * *

I went to my cabin to check out my timetable. I tried to ignore the creepy hippie statue of my dad staring at me, like he expected me to do something. It was really starting to bug me, so I moved my sleeping bag into the corner of the cabin, the only place he wasn't looking. I suppose the cabin was pretty... ish aside from that. It looked like a bank with golden, holographic doors. The roof was a mosaic of lighting bolts and thunder. Pretty much a Zeus-themed bank, in other words. If only that stupid statue wasn't there.

I was fixing my sleeping bag when someone knocked on the door. I answered it; Luke was there. My heart started beating. He was just so...

"Hey," he said, cutting me out of my thoughts. "Settling in?"

"Nope," I replied, putting on a brave face. "My cabin's got a giant hippie statue of my dad staring at me. How am I supposed to sleep with that?"

Luke just laughed. "Hey, at least you get a cabin all to yourself."

"A lonely, creepy, boring cabin, I think you mean," I sighed. "Plus, everyone hates my guts."

"No they don't," Luke shook his head. "Just you wait. Once you save the world, you'll be the talk of camp!"

I rolled my eyes. "This isn't high-school, Luke. And besides, I don't need a stupid prophecy to become talk of the camp. I  _already_ am."

"Of course," Luke laughed. That laugh that made me feel giddy and embarrassed and loved all at the same time. "Anyway, wanna come down to the sword fighting area? I know you like duelling. And we've both got free time."

"Sure," I said. "Could be fun."

We headed over to the fighting place. We picked a spot near some dummies and pulled out our weapons. We sparred for a little while. Not over-the-top serious sparring, more of a playful sparring. I never went  _too_  hard on Luke, no matter how much he demanded. The thought of seeing him hurt made  _me_  hurt. I found for the first time since I got to Camp, I was actually smiling and  _enjoying_  myself. It felt good to hang out with someone who wasn't scared of me for once. Someone who  _liked_  me. No. Someone who...  _loved_  me.

Okay, I'll just say it. I was in love with Luke. No.  _Madly_  in love with Luke.

I mean, he had tanned skin, sandy blonde hair swept over his eyes, a mischievous smile. Bright blue eyes. He had a nice body too, with toned abs, muscular arms, strong legs. And it wasn't just his looks. He was kind, supportive, caring. Brave and charming.  _My_  type of guy. We'd known each other for ages now, always had each other's backs. He was the one I trusted most. The one I'd die for. There was no one else I'd rather be with. The one I loved with all my heart. It suddenly didn't matter how weird he acted. He was my Luke. Forever.

That didn't stop me from kicking his butt, though!

Luke grunted, sitting on his butt, as I pointed my spear at him. "Not bad, Thals."

I helped him stand up. "'Not bad'? It was way better than  _that_ , Luke!"

Luke laughed. "Of course." We stared into each other's eyes. We grew closer, and time seemed to slow down. I reached out towards him-

"Luke!" a voice yelled. We yelped, and jumped apart. The voice belonged to some kid who was probably one of Luke's demigod siblings.

"I'll be right back, Thals," Luke said, running over to the kid. While they talked, I practised my moves on a dummy. I almost destroyed it a few times; I definitely did a number to it. Probably because I was suddenly really irritated. How dare that kid interrupt us?

"Huh," a voice said. "That's pretty good, for a newbie."

I turned around. The voice belonged to an Indian boy around my age, who was wearing an orange Camp Half Blood shirt and jean shorts. A light, red hoodie with the zipper open covered his shirt. It was way too big for him, since it was floppy and reached his butt. He had short, dark hair, swept across his forehead. He was somewhat skinny, but had intimidating, fiery eyes that made me want to fight. He had a Bob the Builder bandage on both of his knees, that really didn't help him look intimidating. He wore leather gloves and carried a long, bronze sword.

" _Newbie?_ " I laughed. "I may be new to camp, but I'm  _not_  new to sparring."

"Oh, yeah?" the boy asked. "We'll see about that. I bet you can't beat me!"

I held up my spear. "Try me."

We battled. The boy wasn't too bad, but I was definitely better than him. A lot better. He almost got me in the side,  _almost_ , but I knocked his sword out of his hand before that happened. He looked at me, impressed.

"You  _are_  good," he said, wiping hair out of his eyes. He smiled, and held out his hand. "I'm Max, son of Ares."

"Thalia," I replied, shaking his hand.

Max nodded. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood, Thalia."

* * *

Max and I would spar whenever we got the chance. I'd always beat him, but it was still fun. Especially when he whined about it afterwards. Sore loser! We also had other things together, like… strawberry picking. And somehow, we made it extremely chaotic.

"Ow!" Max yelped, as I threw a strawberry at his butt. He turned and glared at me with his fiery eyes. He picked up a fistful of strawberries and threw them at me. I jumped out of the way.

"Come on, Bob the Builder!" I yelled. "You can't get me!"

It pretty much spiralled out of control from there. We both got in trouble and smelled like strawberries for a week. Totally worth it, though. So yeah, I'd say Max and I were friendly rivals. Max was great, but Luke was still my number one. We spent way more time together, visiting Annabeth (who was starting to get a little better, according to the medic), sparring, or hanging out. I kissed him on the cheek, sometimes, and he'd kiss me back.

Yet, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Luke had a kind exterior, but I could see he was getting more and more aggressive. His face looked darker, sometimes, like something was ticking behind his mind. He was definitely hiding something. Something bad.

I was starting to worry. But no matter how much I asked him, he never told me anything. He just said he was 'waiting and biding his time' and 'working something out for us'. I mean, at least it couldn't get worse, right?

Well, that was before a quest he went on.

About a month after we first got to camp, Luke was offered a quest by his dad. He accepted it. I was happy for him, since he'd always wanted to prove himself.

"You better come back alive," I told him, "or I'll go down to the Underworld, resurrect you, then kill you again!"

Luke laughed. That wonderful, sweet laugh.

"I'll be fine, Thals," he said, kissing me on the cheek (my heart!). "Try not to lose your head while I'm gone."

Turns out,  _he_  was the one that lost his head. (Not  _literally_ , of course.)

A few days later, he returned, with a bandage covering half his face. He looked angry, and hurt. He locked himself away from others, even me. My world had a dark damper on it, and I found it hard to smile. I couldn't focus on anything; I even accidentally shocked myself a few times. Even Grover was worried.

"What happened to him on that quest…?" he asked.

"He won't talk," I growled, clenching my fists and slamming them on the table. "It's pissing me off."

I shocked the pancake on my plate. It exploded, covering my shirt with pancake-y crumbs.

Grover looked away, sadly. "This is my fault."

I shook my head. "Grover-"

"If I hadn't been so stupid," the satyr lowered his head, "Annabeth would be okay. Luke wouldn't be… like this."

"It's not your fault," I said, grabbing Grover's shoulder. "Luke changed when he talked to his father, a while ago. Nothing to do with you. He's been different ever since then."

Grover frowned. "I wish I could help him."

"You dummy," I growled, then sniffled. "We all do."

* * *

Luke eventually became friendly again (well, kind of), but he was still acting a little weird. He was constantly on edge, and he began asking me questions.

"Thalia," he said. "Do you ever get mad at your father?"

"Obviously," I snapped. I frowned, my hands thrumming with static electricity. "He's no stellar father figure. He left my mom to rot. He never sent me any help when I was running away."

"Then why are you on his side?" Luke asked.

"Where else am I supposed to go?" I asked. "Besides, it's not just my dad on this side. You're here. Grover. Annabeth. All of this camp. I have a lot to fight for."

Luke had a dark look on his face. "Maybe the gods aren't as good as we all think. After all, look at Annabeth. They could've revived her, but they left her in a coma."

"Luke-" I began, but he squeezed my hand, gently, stopping me.

"Don't worry, Thals," he said. "I'll make it better for us." He kissed me on the cheek again, and left me with my stupid thoughts.

* * *

My occupation had become 'Full-Time Luke Castellan Worrier'. He just wasn't the same Luke anymore. Now he had a scar on his face (which actually looked kind of cool), and a dark glance in his blue eyes. He was more malicious. He had taken over the Hermes cabin by crushing the former counsellor in a battle. They were so embarrassed they left camp. My heart was torn. I loved Luke more than anything, but I was scared.

I feared the very thing I loved.

I started to spend a lot more time around Max, who was refreshing and temporarily got me out of that whole Luke business. Sort of. He almost reminded me of  _me_ , actually, but not as cool. He didn't pick up on my moods too easily, and he usually wasn't interested in that stuff anyway. He just wanted to hang out, which was fine with me. Emotions were messing with everything.

Max and I were sparring again, and as usual, I was thinking about Luke. I know it was pretty stupid, but he was affecting everything in my life. Now I was worrying about Annabeth. When she woke up, how would she react to him?

"Hey, Thalia," Max nudged me with his sword. I realised I had almost dropped Aegis. "You there?"

"Yeah, of course." I growled, my voice changing pitches.

"You've been acting… different, lately," Max said. "You okay?"

 _Darn, maybe he isn't as stupid as I thought,_  I grumbled.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Now, you gonna hit me or what?"

So we kept sparring. I focused, but an uneasiness had settled inside me. No matter how much I tried, I'd never stop thinking about Luke.

* * *

It was dinner time. All of the Camp was hanging out and talking. I was sitting by myself again, occasionally waving to Max. Then we heard Mr. D clear his throat.

"Alright, brats," Mr. D said, "Listen to Chiron."

"Attention," Chiron said. "As you all should know, the Winter Solstice is coming soon, and that means the gods will be meeting. As a special treat, they have agreed to let us come and witness this meeting."

Immediately everyone began talking. Luke winked at me. I wasn't sure whether to blush or shiver.

Chiron pounded his hoof on the table. "Campers!"

We all stared at him, silent.

"Thank you," Chiron said. "As I was saying, the gods have allowed us to come and witness this meeting. The counsellors will be in charge of their cabins, and it will be their job to keep everyone together."

Everyone began talking again.

"If you bracts act like this at the solstice, the gods will chuck you off Olympus," Mr. D said, "which, quite frankly, would be rather entertaining for me."

Chiron glared at him, then turned back to us. "Campers, the solstice is next week. You will need to wear warm clothes as it might be cold. We'll also be sleeping overnight there, so make sure you pack a sleeping bag, a pillow, and all the necessary clothing. Food will be provided. The rest of the rules will be explained when we get closer to the date. As for now," he looked up. "Dinner begins!"

* * *

Chiron pulled me aside after the dinner.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Thalia," he said, "but I cannot allow you to come to the solstice."

For some reason, I felt oddly relieved. Probably because I didn't want to see my father. But I didn't show it.

"Why?" I asked.

"There… there are some gods who will not be happy to see you there," Chiron said. "It is not your fault. But it will be best if you stay here. We do not want a war."

I looked down. I realised I was disappointed, too. "Yeah. I guess I get it."

Chiron smiled. "Thank you for understanding, Thalia." He walked away. I stood there for a bit, in silence.

"Hey," a voice said behind me. I tensed up.  _Luke_. "What's up?"

"Chiron said I can't come to the solstice, because it'll make the gods angry." I replied, facing him.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," I said. "It's fine, though. I didn't want to go to the solstice anyway."

"No, Thalia," Luke said. "Chiron doesn't want you to see the gods discuss whether they'll kill you or not. He doesn't want you to know your own fate."

I gritted my teeth. I fingered one of my bracelets, and felt a spike on it pierce my skin.

"Not fair, huh?" Luke asked. "I think you should know your fate. You have a  _right_  to know. Especially since it's the day before your  _birthday_."

"Yeah," I said, feeling angry. "You're right." I frowned. "But… I can't sneak up there. The gods will notice me."

"Not without a little help," Luke said. "There's a guy in my cabin who's a son of Hecate. He's good with magic and spells. And he got a few good spells from his mom recently. A few that'll help us out."

I straightened my shoulders. "Fine. Let's do this."


	3. The gods decide whether I should live

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the Anonymous guest who asked, Percy will be absent. However, he does exist in this universe. You'll find out more about this later.
> 
> Also, I don't know much about NYC or America, so if I get any geography wrong, my apologies. I'll mainly be going off the stuff in the books.

 

* * *

A week passed; the Winter Solstice was the next day. And my birthday was the day after. I was pretty sure my birthday wasn't going to be the best one ever. I had no party planned, no burgers, no anything, it sucked!

Anyway, the day before the solstice, Luke and I met with the son of Hecate he mentioned. His name was Tony Fremont. The kid enchanted my Linkin Park badge with some wacky curse. Yep, I have one of those. I've got a few badges with my favourite bands on them. Most of them are birthday presents from Luke. I'd probably get another one this year, knowing him.

"This will make you undiscoverable by anyone, as soon as you put this on," Tony said, handing me the badge. "But only for 30 minutes, so be careful."

"Sure," I said, taking the badge. "Why only 30 minutes?"

"I can't do any longer," Tony said, frowning.

Luke patted his shoulder. "No worries, Thalia's quick as lightning. She'll be able to handle it. Right, Thals?"

I nodded, and slipped the badge into my pocket. "I can handle anything."

I ignored my head telling me otherwise. Stupid head.

Luke and I headed out of the Hermes cabin, arms linked. I kept my head high, still trying not to be nervous. I mean, I  _wasn't_  nervous. I was fine!

"Hey, guys," a daughter of Apollo came up to us, holding a clipboard under her arm. "You guys are friends with Annabeth Chase, right?"

"Yep," Luke said. He frowned. "Is she…?"

Annabeth appeared from behind Apollo's daughter. I held back a cry of joy, and swept her up in my arms in a really big hug. Tears appeared in my eyes as I squeezed the life out of her. Relief was overwhelming, and I had to stop myself from having a mental breakdown. Or breaking Annabeth's spine.

"Can't... breathe..." Annabeth panted. I let her go, laughing nervously. Then I got into Mom-mode.

"Gods dammit, Annabeth," I glared at her, my voice hoarse. "Don't you  _ever_  do something like that again, okay?!"

Annabeth blushed and looked down, cutely. She reminded me of my little brother Jason. I bit my lip, sadly. At least I got my little sister back.

Luke came and put his arms around us. "Hey, at least we're all together again."

I nodded. We were a family again.

* * *

"So," Max said, as we were picking strawberries. Yeah, real fun  _that_ is. "I heard you're not going to the solstice thing."

"Yep." I said, totally not lying.

"What are you gonna do while we're all at the solstice, then?" Max asked.

"Bore myself to death." I shrugged.

Max chucked a strawberry at me, which I caught with ease. He groaned in frustration.

"One day, I'm gonna get you," he said. "Trust me."

I rolled my eyes and lightly punched his shoulder. "Dork."

"Hey!" He glared at me, clenching his fists. "I'm not a dork!"

"You were wearing Bob the Builder bandaids." I said.

Max looked flustered. "Those were the only ones I had!"

"Why did you even have them?" I asked.

Max stammered. "I-I don't know!"

I face-palmed. Gods, Max was such a dweeb.

* * *

I had a weird dream that night, which is pretty common with demigods. All part of the fun. Also, Luke was in it. Why was I even surprised?

I saw him walking towards a big crevice in the Earth, a twisted grin on his face. There was this strange, gold light coming out of it.

" _I've come to serve you, my lord,_ " he said, holding up his arms. " _I'll make this world a better place!_ "

Who the Hades was he talking to?

" _Serve me, little demigod,_ " a voice - from the crevice - was now speaking to  _me_. It chilled me right down to my core. Its power was ancient, thrumming. Almost incomprehensible. " _Be with your beloved forever. Bring vengeance against your father._ "

Luke was holding out his hand, giving me an encouraging smile. I stepped back in fright, breathing heavily. White spots appeared in my vision, until I woke up. When I did, was covered in sweat. My breathing was heavy.

What was that all about?

My instincts were telling me nothing good. Especially since today was the Winter Solstice.

My birthday really was going to be terrible.

* * *

Soon, the campers were awake and running around, excited for the meeting. They were all carrying sleeping bags, pillows, toothbrushes, that kind of stuff. Chiron got them all to line up at the front of the Big House. I sat on the stairs, watching as he droned on about the rules.

"When we get there, you will have some free time to explore Olympus, and if you wish, you can buy something there, perhaps a gift for your mortal parents. Don't buy them anything with ambrosia or nectar, however, as that will kill them, and they probably won't appreciate that." he said. There were murmurs and giggles among the crowd. "Hermes' children especially, do NOT steal anything. If you break something, it is your own drachmas that must pay."

 _If I have enough time, I can buy myself a birthday present,_ I thought.  _Maybe they have Green Day merch._

Luke kept glancing at me from the crowd. He was making me uncomfortable, so I looked at my shoes.

"... and when we get to the solstice, be on your best behaviour…" Chiron droned on. "... no talking during the solstice, no giggling, no silliness..."

I sighed. Even if they weren't allowed to giggle or be silly, at least they weren't on a time limit and had to sneak around. And hey, Annabeth looked excited. I was happy for her. She deserved to do something she enjoyed.

Annabeth had been settling in well. She got on great with the rest of her cabin, and was making a few friends around camp. And of course, she hung around Luke and I, too. We were teaching her how to use her dagger on the dummies. And in return, she told us a lot of nerdy stuff I reckon only kids of Athena know.

I loved my little sister to pieces. If anyone ever even  _thought_ about hurting her I'd throw them off Zeus' fist! (That's a pile of rocks, by the way, that looks kind of like a fist. Or a poop pile.)

Grover sat next to me as Chiron talked about arrival times and other boring stuff.

"Hey, um, good news! I'll be staying here at camp with you." he said.

I smiled at him, trying to ignore the guilt brewing in my gut. "Awesome! I thought you'd want to go to the solstice, though."

"The gods make me nervous," Grover whimpered. "And besides… the council doesn't really want me up there. After you guys nearly died…" He looked away. "I don't know if I'll ever get my searcher's license."

I put my arms around his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Grover. You'll get your license."

"Thanks, Thalia." Grover said, but he still sounded down. I sighed. My plan wasn't going to reflect well on him. Oh, huh, what's a searcher's license? Well, there's this great god of nature called Pan who everyone believes is dead, but the satyrs and other natures spirits don't so they're all looking for him. You have to get a search license for it, and that's about all I know. Ask Grover if you're curious.

Grover's family had gone looking for him. None of them had returned.

If Grover himself ever went, I hoped he would return. Or I'd cause a thunderstorm.

* * *

Finally, the campers left on a big white bus driven by Argos. He's the camp's driver, by the way. He has a lot of eyes. Kinda creepy.

Grover and I hung out at the Big House, playing UNO and drinking soda. It was pretty boring, as you can guess. Mainly because I kept winning.

After about 15 minutes I got up and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back."

Grover nodded. And with that, I raced out of the Big House, and headed to my cabin. In there was a bag with some mortal money, a 'disguise' (so just in case other demigods couldn't tell it was me), the badge, and, of course, food. Couldn't forget that.

I bolted out of camp, tapping the metallic cover of my badge. I remember when Luke got it for me. It was my 11th birthday, and I was obsessed with Linkin Park music. I was constantly playing it on my stolen MP3 player (which was also a gift from Luke). He gave me a handsome smile as gave me the badge, and I cried out with joy, throwing my arms around his neck...

I shook my head.  _Not the time, Thalia!_  Darn ADHD.

I took a moment to glance at the tree that made the border of camp. It had been named after me, since I'd almost died against it. Somehow about it was weirdly serene. I passed it, and ran down a hill, leaving camp for the first time in two months.

I made it to a road. It was surrounded by half-melted snow and dead trees. I heard traffic in the far distance, and smelled the cool air. I slipped on my new clothes: a fluffy green jacket, a white shirt, and sunglasses. And a black beanie, of course. I probably looked like a hippie rapper, but it was better that than getting recognised. I shivered, clenching my arms; I missed the warm temperature of camp. It was  _freezing_ out here, even though I was wearing a few layers. I ran to the Long Island train station, and slipped onto the train. It was a lot warmer in there, thank the Gods. I leaned back as the train took me to New York City.

NYC was busy and bustling despite all the snow and stuff, which was what I expected. Cities were always busy. I slipped out of the train, making my way past the other people. Grand Central Station was huge and I could've stayed there and gaped at it for hours, but I had to get a move on. I kept my head high, walking through the city, kicking piles of fluffy, white snow. My ADHD kept me looking around everywhere, and if I weren't on a mission, I totally would've gone exploring. I forced myself to focus. I didn't have much time.

I got to the Empire State Building, my nose going blue from the cold. It was so much taller than I thought it would be. At the top of it I could see storm clouds brewing; there was definitely a solstice up there, alright.

I entered the building; the lobby was grand and full of gold, annoyingly reminding me of the Zeus cabin. My boots clinked on the grand floor; the lights were making me look gold, too. I walked up to the receptionist. I knew I had to go the 600th floor (thanks Luke for the insight).

"600th floor, please." I told the receptionist, who was reading the newspaper.

"No such thing, kid." the receptionist laughed.

I titled my head, feeling static electricity race across my skin. "You know those kids that were here before? The demigods? I'm with them. I'm just… late."

The receptionist pursued his lips, silent for a few moments. "Name?"

"Allyson Gardner." I said. She was a daughter of Demeter I'd met once. I kind of looked like her now, what with the green jacket and beanie.

"Hmm," the receptionist said, looking at a list. "Yep, your name's on the list." He handed me a golden key card. "Have fun, kid."

I took the card. "Thanks." I walked over to the elevator, sliding the key card into a slot. I went in the lift, pressing the button for the 600th floor.

"Hey, wait a sec," I heard the receptionist say. "There's already a Allyson Gardner here!"

Too late. The lift doors closed, and I was going up.

* * *

Olympus was beautiful. Like, really beautiful. It was a big paradise full of golden buildings and happy people. Literally. Not even exaggerating. There were tons of creatures everywhere, everything from godlings to dryads. Ahead was a great marble building (the throne room, I guessed), which glimmered in the sunlight. The pillars were taller than the Big House, and even more incredible than the Grand Central Station. I noticed there was also some weird black stuff around the marble place that probably wasn't usually there.

I saw a village in the distance, and a few kids in orange shirts running around. I guessed they were the campers. Trying to act natural, I sauntered through Olympus, clutching my badge in my pocket. I thought about when I'd have to wear it. Sooner or later.

I looked around the village for Luke. I managed to find him at some golden, fancy-looking music store run by the Muses. I headed inside, my hands in my pockets. I crept over to him.

"Hey Luke," I said, keeping my voice low. "It's me. Thalia."

Luke whipped around, a grin on his face. He was carrying a few different shirts for bands I like. "Hey! You made it. The solstice is in half an hour."

I clenched my fists and nodded. "Whatcha doing in here?"

"Nothing, heh." Luke said innocently. I tilted my head, as he blushed and giggled. "Why don't you go and check out the cafe just down the road? The hot chocolate there is the best you'll ever have."

"Hmm, alright," I said. We were both blushing now. I got out of there, adjusting my beanie. He really needed to be more subtle when buying me a birthday gift.

* * *

I saw the demigods lining up in front of the throne room. Luke nodded at me, giving me the  _go ahead_. I slipped my badge on; a wave of power slipped through me, and my hands become slightly translucent. I followed the sea of demigods as they headed inside the throne room.

Power almost deep-fried my brain. The 12 Olympians (and Hades) were sitting on their thrones. They were around 20 feet tall each, all radiating power. The thrones were shaped in a U, just like the cabins at camp. Looked like 'em too. I was standing there, gawking for a few seconds before I snapped out of it. You can't blame me. The throne room itself was making me embarrassed that I was in awe over the Grand Central Station. The demigods sat around the front of the room, some nervous, some excited, some neutral. I leaned against a pillar. My father was there, looking arrogant. He was irking me. I clenched my fists, feeling electricity in my palms.  _Not_ now.

After everyone had settled down, Dad began talking. His voice boomed around the throne room, echoing. From him alone I could sense power thrumming like electricity. Didn't  _quite_ get the same vibe from the topics he was discussing. He talked about some stuff like politics and money that was  _insanely_  boring. Plus, he started arguing with his brothers about some stupid stuff, too. I was  _impatient_. I didn't come up here to listen to stupid god politics and the Big Three argue about who Mother Rhea loved best! Even the other demigods looked kind of bored.

I was twitching. Not just because I had ADHD, but because I was nervous. I didn't have  _forever_.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hera said, "So, husband, that demigod child of yours is at camp."

I sat up, and craned my neck. My back hurt from all the sitting around and being bored.

Zeus tensed up. "Yes, she is."

Hades had a bitter look on his face. "Of course you could not keep your oath, brother." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but saved it.

"Thalia is a brave demigod," Zeus said, glaring at Hades for a moment. I felt my face go red. I wasn't expecting to be complimented. "She will be a great hero. She was able to defend herself against the monsters you sent after her."

 _So that's where they all came from!_  I thought, gritting my teeth angrily.  _Why did he send them all after me? Because of my father?! I didn't do anything wrong, gods dammit-_

"Only because of my daughter," Athena said, nodding to Annabeth, who looked up with awe. "She almost died, protecting your daughter, Father."

"And my son, too." Hermes added in. I noticed Luke was looking away from him. His jaw was tight. I knew what that felt like. I wanted to walk over and squeeze his shoulder, but then remembered I was undiscoverable. I sighed. I wanted to speak out, but even though I was undiscoverable, I'd feel rude doing it.

"While she is a powerful demigod, Father, you know she creates a huge risk," Athena said. "She could bring forth the destruction of Olympus."

The demigods looked nervously at each other. I felt even more nervous. No. I felt like Atlas - the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

"Then we should kill her." said Ares. He had the same fiery gleam in his eyes that Max had, but none of the kindness.

"We will not be killing my daughter," Zeus snapped.

"She is a young maiden, and through that I can vouch for her," Artemis said. "She has not done anything wrong, at least at the moment. She has proven to be a brave hero. If anything, she will save Olympus."

Artemis was suddenly my favourite goddess.

"And besides, she's in  _love_ with someone," Aphrodite giggled. "We can't let that go!"

The gods started arguing. My face was an ever deeper red. Luke looked the same.

"Calm yourselves," Hera's voice rose above. "There are demigods here."

The gods seemed to calm down after that. The demigods were looking at each other, kind of scared, kind of intrigued. My feelings were jumbled. I was angry, scared, terrified, and happy all at once. Like an emotional soup.

"Well, brother," Poseidon said, "have you decided what you are going to do with your daughter?"

Everyone stared at my father. Hera looked especially evil. She was making my skin crawl - I knew how much she hated Zeus' bastard children. (Like me, sadly.)

"She must live," Zeus said. I was kind of flattered about how much faith he had in me. "She is the only child of the elder gods around. The prophecy is her destiny."

Hades looked like he wanted to say something, but again, he didn't.

"We will vote," my father said. "Decide Thalia's fate."

I felt a burning sensation beneath my chin. I looked down, and noticed my badge was flashing. My heart leapt into my throat. It had been 30 minutes.

I scrambled to my feet, almost tripping over myself. I heard people talking behind me, but I didn't look back as I bolted. I ran down the stairs, my beanie falling off, like I was Cinderella. Oh well. I kept running, racing through the village. Adrenaline made me run faster; my face was covered in sweat. My heart was probably going to explode.

I almost passed out as I made it to the elevator. Yet, one thought kept me on edge:

I had no idea if I was dead or not. Oh wait, who am I kidding? When you're a demigod, you're always dead.

Great.


	4. I have the worst nightmare ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smh people getting triggered over Percy not being in the story
> 
> Guys it's not about Percy. XD Here he'd be around Annabeth's age (8) and he didn't pop into the original story until he was 12. So yeah, he managed to exist for a long time lol. I do have something in mind for him, so just stay chill.

When I got back to camp, the first thing I did was collapse on the ground, my lungs feeling like they were going to explode.

"Thalia!" a voice cried out my name. I looked up; Grover was running towards me, panic all over his face. Guilt didn't make me feel any better.

"Thalia!" Grover bent down next to me. He was panting too, though I was the one who'd done all the running. Come on, I ran through Olympus!

"Where did you go?!" Grover demanded. "Thalia-"

"I went to the stupid solstice," I spat out, my heart still pumping.

Grover briefly had a look of what was probably heartbreak on his face, which became panic again.

"Oh gods," he panted. "They're never gonna let me get my license now! Oh no, they-"

"Grover, relax," I said, sitting up. "No one knew I was there. You'll be fine. As long as we keep this a secret between us. Okay?"

Grover was still sweating, but he nodded. "O-okay…" He then paused. "Wait, how come no one knew you were there? The gods-"

"I had some magic help," I answered. I stood up. "Let's just go and get some soda or something. I'm tired."

"Alright," Grover said, following me to the Big House. "One more thing, though, Thalia…"

I faced him.

"Why did you do it?" he asked. "Go the Solstice, I mean. Even after what Chiron said."

I looked down. "Curiosity."

Or the fact that Luke told me to…

* * *

The rest of the day Grover and I did boring stuff, but I still couldn't relax. Even more than normal (thanks ADHD). An uneasiness had settled inside me.

 _Look, if they wanted to kill you, they would've done it already,_  I told myself.

 _What if they're waiting and biding their time?_  Another part of me asked.  _They'll kill me when I'm not expecting it…_

Gods, I was being stupid. Maybe I was going crazy from having no one aside from Grover and nymphs to talk to. The nymphs weren't that interesting. All they did was gossip about the satyrs and some male nymphs. Not really my thing.

Even sparring wasn't that fun. I realised how lonely it was stabbing a dummy with your spear with no one to cheer you on. Dinner didn't taste as nice either. That, or my appetite wasn't what it usually was. Normally I could eat a few plates, but today I could barely eat a full sandwich. I felt stupid and pathetic. I thought I was better than this!

Right?

Eventually, feeling as creeped out by the hippie Zeus statue as ever, I went to bed. I had some great dreams. Not.

I was standing nearby Luke. I couldn't tell where we were, but it was dark. Grim. Desolate. It made me feel chilled inside, like my heart had turned to ice. Luke was giving me a kind smile, reminding me of the early days. But something malicious was in his eyes.

" _Everything I do is for us, Thals_ ," he said.

Ahead of us, the black ground was cracking. A crevice formed. I wondered if Luke was secretly an earthbender.

" _The gods never treated us well_ ," Luke said. " _They want you dead, Thalia. But if you stick with me…_ " Golden light came out of the crevice, lighting up his smile. It didn't look so kind anymore. " _They'll be the ones begging you for mercy_."

I clenched my fists. I wanted to be respected, but I didn't want to go around killing people.

" _Join us,_ " a voice from the crevice hissed. It was primordial, and crept up my spine like a spider. I could see why Annabeth feared them.

" _Join us,_ " Luke repeated, his voice in sync with the one from the crevice. To my horror, they didn't sound so different. " _Let's show the gods who's really in charge._ "

Luke was glowing with a golden light. I felt power drawing me in, even more ancient and powerful than the Olympians'. It was radiating from him. It was…  _tempting_. Suddenly that power wasn't so bad. I wanted it. I wanted to feel  _powerful_.

 _No_ , I told myself.  _What are you doing? Stop! This is all wrong!_

I covered my eyes, feeling tears building up. My chest was heaving.

" _You're weak when it comes to power_ ," Luke said, but it didn't sound like him anymore. " _I can give you all the power you could ever dream of. You will be the most powerful demigod to ever live, Thalia Grace._ "

I flinched. I hate it when people use my surname.

" _Help me rise,_ " the voice droned on. " _Help me take over._ "

 _Stop it,_  I told myself.  _Stop it!_

" _You'll get everything you've ever wanted_ ," the voice whispered. It was everywhere I looked. I covered my eyes and ears, but it did nothing to stop it. " _The power will be in your hands!_ "

I screamed. And then everything went white.

* * *

"Thalia!"

I rolled over. Who was that?

"Hey, Thalia! Are you in there?"

Oh, right. It was Grover. I sat up; my hair was so messy it could've been an afro. Outside, I could hear faint thunder claps and rain pouring. I could sense them too. Daughter of Zeus perk.

"Yeah," I said. "Coming."

I got up, putting on a black, floppy t-shirt that said 'Death to Barbie' with an arrow through a Barbie doll's head. Because Barbie sucks. Not all girls like magical ponies and princesses and dressing up in sparkly pink dresses. I wasn't like that. I wasn't some stupid sparkly Disney princess. I was a warrior, a fighter, a  _demigod_.

A hero. Trust me, no man was going to rescue me from a castle. I'd tear that castle down myself.

Anyway, I opened the door. Grover was standing there, twitching nervously. The storm was louder out there.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Um, not good news…" Grover said, looking away anxiously. "C… Chiron sent me an Iris message. Something really bad happened."

For those of you who don't know, an Iris message is sort of like Facetiming for demigods. You throw a coin into a rainbow, pray to Iris, the god of rainbows, and you can pretty much contact anyone you want. And it doesn't attract monsters, unlike phones and other technology. True, I still had my MP3 player, but hey. I'm a rebel. I like to break the rules.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well… uh…" Grover was sweating a lot, now. "Your father's… master bolt…"

"What about it?" I asked, starting to get impatient.

"It's been stolen," Grover spat out. He fell to his knees, still shaking.

" _Stolen_?!" I repeated. "How-what-" I looked up at the sky. "Who…?"

"No one knows," Grover said. "Yet…"

"Oh gods," the uneasiness in my stomach grew. I thought I was going to be sick. "Oh Grover, oh gods…"

"It gets worse," Grover said, his face pale.

"Worse," I repeated.

"Thalia," Grover stood up, looking like he was about to cry. "Someone knew you were there."

I clenched my fists.

"You're a prime suspect," Grover said. "And the gods want you dead…." He burst into tears. I just stood there, my heart feeling like it was going to explode.

I was screwed.


	5. Luke reveals the truth

I mean, look. I wasn't expecting a personal parade in honour of my birthday.

But a death wish, seriously? It's like the world was  _mocking_  me.

The campers were filing in through the entrance. I was just standing there, taking it all in. I wasn't even looking at anyone. I didn't want to. I felt stupid, but I didn't want to look at them. I heard their muffled voices as they passed by me.

' _Blames Poseidon…'_

' _... sent his best searchers…'_

' _... she was on Olympus…'_

"Thalia," a voice caught my attention, shaking me out of my thoughts. Chiron.

I clenched my fists.

"I didn't do it," I snapped.

"Thalia, please," Chiron said, sighing. "Just come with me. We need to talk."

* * *

I was twitching. A lot. I suppose it was an ADHD thing. Or maybe because I was freaking nervous. Static electricity was running across my finger tips. I'd shocked myself a few times.

Chiron was sitting in front of me, a bored Mr. D on his side. We were in the Big House, and I was sitting behind a desk, facing the leaders of camp. The room was full of weird decorations, like some kind of antique store. Including a leopard head that was giving me a death glare.

"Thalia," Chiron said. I looked at him, fumbling with some of my bracelets. "Were you on Olympus during the Solstice?"

His tone was gentle, but I could tell there was a harsh undertone.

"Yes," I decided to just admit it. No point lying.

"You were undetected for a while," Chiron said. "How did you make yourself undetectable?"

"I had help," I said. "A... camper enchanted one of my badges, so no one could tell where I was. Not even the gods."

Chiron nodded. "And why… why did you go to Olympus? Even after I told you not to?"

I hated being reprimanded like a child. I mean, I suppose I was technically a kid, but it still ticked me off. I hadn't had a real parent,  _ever_ , except maybe for Luke. I'd always been the parent, the leader, the one in control. No one told me what to do.

"Someone told me the gods would be discussing whether I died or not," I said. "I had to know what they would say."

Mr. D took a sip of his diet cola. "Of course. But I think you missed the end result."

I bowed my head, scowling.

"Thalia," Chiron said, still gentle. "Did you steal the Master Bolt?"

"No," I said. "I swear it on the Styx."

The sky rumbled.

"And I don't know who did, either," I said, standing up while raising my hands. "I have no information about it at all."

"The gods are fuming," Chiron said, seriously. "Your father does not blame you, but some of the gods do. After all, your presence was briefly sensed…"

"Well, I didn't do it," I snapped. "And if it makes them happy, I'll go and find out who did."

"I'll be going now," Mr. D said, standing up. "Let me know if Theodora needs to be turned into a dolphin."

"Thalia," I snapped, as Mr. D left.

Chiron looked away for a moment.

"If the thief is not you, do you have any guesses of who it could be?" he asked.

"Well..." I replied. "I've been having some weird dreams lately. An… image of someone I'm close to, and a voice speaking to me. Coming from a crevice, underground."

"Underground," Chiron repeated, thoughtfully. "Hmm… the Oracle said... yes, that makes sense."

"What makes sense?" I asked.

"The thief," Chiron said. "Which god underground has a grudge against the other gods? Which god would want a war to start so he could take over?"

I froze up. "... Hades."

Chiron nodded. "Yes. You see, your father blames Poseidon, and Poseidon wants an apology. Both by the start of the next year."

"They'll go to war," I said.

"Many mortals will die," Chiron agreed. "And who is the god of the dead? With so many new souls, Hades can easily rise up and take control."

I clenched my fists. Was that god trying to make me hate him? First he sent all those stupid monsters after me, now  _this_? I really wanted to go down to his stupid realm and punch him in the face.

"As I said before, many gods also want you dead," Chiron said. "If you retrieve the bolt from him, you can redeem yourself in the eyes of those gods."

"Then I'll go," I stood up, abruptly. My chest was heaving, but I wasn't scared anymore. "I'll get the bolt."

* * *

Worst birthday ever.

Everyone hated my guts, and Luke was nowhere to be found. I stormed around camp for a while, listening to some music with my MP3 player. It didn't make me feel a whole lot better, sadly. That's how I knew it was bad: even music couldn't help. Then I spotted Annabeth.

"Annabeth," I walked up to her. "Trust me, I didn't steal the bolt."

"I believe you," Annabeth said, giving me a kind smile. "You wouldn't do something like that."

"Thanks," I returned the smile. "You know where Luke is?"

Annabeth shook her head. "He's... probably in his cabin. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Thalia!"

I thanked her again, and checked the Hermes cabin. A lot of people giving me weird looks, but no Luke. Where had he gone? I paced around the outside of the Hermes cabin, feeling electricity building up in my palms.

"You look sick," a voice said. "And not in a good way."

Max Badmil. I turned around and glared at him.

"Thanks," I deadpanned. "Just having a terrible birthday."

"It's your birthday?!" Max asked, eyes wide. "Wow, you sure are unlucky."

"Yeah, because I totally didn't know that." I snapped.

"Whoa, sorry," Max held up his hands. "Um… Happy Birthday…?"

I rolled my eyes. "Look, do you know where Luke Castellan is?"

Max shrugged. "No clue."

"Great." I sighed, walking away. I kept looking around camp, but still couldn't find Luke. Where had he gone? I needed him now more than ever. Well, almost. Usually he was the one that needed  _me_.

I was about to give up when I finally saw him, near the entrance of camp. He looked tired, and somehow older, but brightened up when he saw me.

"Luke!" I yelled, about to punch him in the face. I swung my arms around his neck. "Where have you been?!"

"Thalia," he said, his tone grim. He hadn't returned the hug, and I noticed he was cold, like he'd been hanging out in a freezer. "I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" I asked, staring into his eyes.

"Just come with me." Luke said.

* * *

We headed into the forest, stopping nearby a small creek. It was actually pretty peaceful there, with only a few trees and a pleasant breeze rustling the leaves. I sat down, staring at the creek. I ran my hand through it, gazing at my rippled reflection. Luke sat next to me.

"Hey," he said. "Happy Birthday." He handed me a small box, wrapped in blue paper. "I feel like the timing could be better... but oh well."

"Thanks," I said. I tore off the paper, revealing a special edition Green Day CD, and a small disc-player. I couldn't wipe the big, goofy smile off my face. It was the first time all day I'd smiled, aside from when I talked to Annabeth. That's the thing about those two. They can always make me smile.

"You are the BEST!" I yelled, wrapping my arms around Luke's waist and screaming with glee. I kissed him on the cheek; he blushed bright red. I started blushing too, and pulled away.

"Thank you," I said, staring at my feet. "I mean, seriously.  _Thank_  you."

Luke nodded, something solemn in his eyes. "You're welcome."

Then he looked away, suddenly tense. I raised my brow, trying to see his face.

"Thalia," he said, quietly, but somehow more intimidating than if he were yelling. "Can... can you promise me something?"

Now I was tense too. "What is it?"

"You can't tell anyone what we talk about here," Luke said. He turned to me, a fierceness in his eyes. He grabbed my hand. His cold hand made me feel like an icicle. "Promise it on the Styx!"

"Seriously?" I asked. "Luke-"

"Please, Thalia," Luke begged me. "Or I can't say  _anything_. Please."

I bit my lip. "Fine. I swear on the River Styx I won't tell anyone about this conversation."

The sky rumbled again.

"Thank you," Luke said, breathing slowly.

"Now tell me, what the Hades was that all about?" I asked.

"I stole it," Luke spat out.

"What?"

"I stole the lightning bolt," Luke said.

"Say  _what_?" I yelled, static electricity racing across my skin.

"I'm the lightning thief," Luke said, again. "I stole them last night on Olympus, while everyone was sleeping. I ran away, but I got found. I… I made a deal with a god, and he took the bolt. Then I came back to camp."

"Why…?" I asked, my breathing heavy. My vision had a blurry edge. "Why would you…"

"He's rising," Luke said, grabbing my hand. He looked more intense than he ever had before. "Kronos is rising."

"What?!" I yelled.

"I'm a traitor," Luke said. "I've been working for him. Because… because I'm  _sick_  of Olympus." His tone was harsh, and bitter. His grip on my hand became harder. "The gods treat us like trash. My father doesn't love me. The gods all want you dead, Thalia. Annabeth nearly died because Hades sent monsters after her! I'm  _not_ standing for it!" He stomped on the ground, teeth bared. He paused, taking in a deep breath. "My lord asked me to steal the weapons to start a godly war, so I did. But now… now he's asked me to do something I don't think I… I can do."

"What is it?" I asked, snarling. "Blow up the whole universe?"

"No," Luke said. His eyes had tears in them. "He wants me to kill you."

I didn't say anything in response to that. My whole body just froze up.

"Unless I can get you to join our side," Luke said. He grabbed my hand again. Still cold. "So… please, Thalia. Join me. The gods don't care for you. They want you dead. Those monsters Hades sent after you nearly killed  _you_ , too. And you did nothing to deserve it!" He wiped his eyes. The wind howled, and my heart raced.

Luke's eyes were full of tears. "You really think your father cares about you? He has so many kids, Thalia. He's the one who created the 'no-intervention' rule in the first place. You're just a pawn to the gods. We  _all_ are."

"What about that quest you went on?" I asked, my voice croaking. "Your father-"

"Don't talk to me about that stupid quest!" Luke snapped. "It was  _worthless_. My father couldn't even think of an original quest to give me. All I got in the end was a scar on my face."

"Luke," I stopped him, forcing myself to stay calm. "Of course it's not fair. You think I like all this stuff that's happening? No! And trust me, I get mad at my father all the time. But this side… it's not just about the gods. It's about our friends, too. Annabeth, Grover, this entire camp. Mortals. Humanity!"

"I don't want pity from these campers," Luke growled. "That's all they gave me. They're not strong, Thalia. Mortals aren't strong either. They're materialistic, blind, worthless." He put a hand over his heart. "Only  _we_ are strong."

"No," I shook my head. "I fight on this side for my  _friends_ , for the world, for the mortals. The weak need to be protected by the strong, or learn to fight themselves. And anyone can be strong." I clenched my fists, wind swirling around me. The clouds were dark and intimidating, which matched my mood. I wasn't scared! "Life's not fair, and it's  _never_  going to be fair! It sucks, but it will always suck, and we just have to live with it! I never asked to be a demigod, no one here did! But you know what?!"

I was yelling now, tears racing down my cheeks. "I'm going to live with it! I'm going to tackle it head on! I'm going to stand tall! And I'm going to keep getting back up when I get hit down. That's strength, Luke. And from the looks of it,  _YOU DON'T HAVE ANY_!"

Clouds were forming, and thunder was booming. I was glowing with electricity. Rain poured down, hiding my tears.

"You can still be  _strong_!" I yelled. "It's not too late to go back, Luke! Stay with me, and I'll help you. You can redeem yourself. You can be a hero!"

Luke was breathing heavily, now drenched in the bitter rain. "Why would I want to help those worthless gods!?"

"You're helping us!" I screamed. "YOU'RE HELPING YOUR FRIENDS! YOU'RE HELPING  _ME_ , DAMMIT!"

The wind was really strong now. Rain was pouring down in buckets.

Luke was sitting on the ground, his expression vague. He looked like he was about to cry or scream. But nothing came out.

_I thought you loved me._

"I'm not gonna let you kill me," I said. "We'll have to fight if you try. And I don't want to fight you."

Luke had tears in his eyes.

"I don't want to hurt you," I said. I choked up, still crying. "I don't want you to die."

Luke sobbed. The rain poured and poured.

"I love you," Luke said, smiling at me, tears rolling down his cheeks, mixed with the rainwater. "I'd die for you."

"Join me, Luke," I said, holding out my hand. "Redeem yourself. We'll be heroes. Together."

Lightning flashed.

Luke took my hand. "I will."


	6. A mummy almost drives me mad

It was official. We were going on a quest to retrieve the lightning bolt.

We both knew who the real thief was, but Chiron still thought it was Hades. We were going to go west and confront him, and find the god who really had the bolt. (Luke said he'd been sworn to secrecy, so he couldn't tell me which god.) We'd give the weapons back to their respective owners, and  _boom_ , instant respect. Luke and me would be in the clear.

 _Stopping Kronos_ was a different matter altogether. We'd face that bridge once we had to cross it.

But before this quest actually happened, we needed to get a prophecy. Chiron told me it was necessary.

A prophecy from the oracle, who lived in the attic of the Big House. Because I was the glorious leader of this quest, it was my job to receive the prophecy. Whoohoo.

I headed into the attic. It was full of relics and other bits and pieces collected by heroes over the years. I saw old armour stands covered in cobwebs, rusted shields, jars full of claws and even eyes. There was even a trophy that looked like no one had touched it in 30 years.

Ahead of that all was a mummy, which was a female body shrivelled to a husk. Just looking at her gave me the chills; I couldn't help but reach for my mace canister (that's my spear in disguise). She had been dead for a long time; her skin was rotten, and her eyes had been replaced with what looked marbles. Her clothes were colourful, but that didn't really make me feel any better.

Green mist poured from her mouth like a snake. I had Aegis out too, giving her a look.

 _I am the spirit of Delphi,_  her voice spoke, slithering in one ear and out the other.  _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, Seeker, and ask._

I sighed. No backing out. She didn't seem evil, but I didn't put my weapons down.

"What's my destiny?" I asked.

The mist swirled around my feet. It looked like it was making some kind of shape. It suddenly turned into a woman. But not just any woman.

My mother.

I almost fell over. I knew it wasn't real, but I hadn't seen my mother for 5 years. And I never wanted to see her again.

 _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._  The Oracle's voice was old and raspy, but honestly, I'd rather hear it than my mom's real voice. Suddenly, a misty version of my father appeared, wearing a suit. He put his arm around my mother's shoulders, making my heart clench.

 _You will find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._ His voice was the Oracle's as well.

My mother held up a misty, two year old boy in her arms. I almost screamed. Jason, my brother.

 _You will be forced to join a rival to save a friend,_ he hissed.

Then finally, altogether, they stared straight into my eyes:  _And you will lose something you do not expect, in the end._

The mist vanished, going back into the mummy's mouth. I sat there, my heart pumping. There was no way. I understood why the Oracle drove people insane. I thought  _I_  was going to lose my mind.

Chiron had warned me. He warned me I may not like what the Oracle had to say, and he was right. But I didn't care.

I was going on this stupid quest. I chose this destiny, and I had to live with it.

* * *

I talked to Chiron about what the Oracle said, which basically confirmed our suspicions.

"It seems likely," Chiron said. "This does confirm it for me. But Hades does not like you, and will take any excuse to kill you. This is a very dangerous mission. Are you willing to put your life at risk?"

I knew he had a point. But I didn't care. I was done running away. If I was going to die, I'd die fighting. Sure, Hades didn't actually steal the bolt, but he had tried to kill me, and that's nothing something you get over easily.

"Yes," I said. "I'm sure."

Chiron nodded, grimly. "Then it is your destiny, Thalia. You are a strong demigod, and perhaps, you may just have a chance."

I hoped so. But what did the prophecy mean by losing something I wouldn't expect? And why the Hades would I join a  _rival_?

* * *

So that was that. Luke and I were feeling confident. We just needed to decide on who our third party member would be.

And that choice was easy.

"Annabeth." I said.

"Of course I'd love her to come, but..." Luke frowned. "She almost died last time. I know she's tough, but I'm worried that'll happen again. Especially since we're going to..."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I know. But she'd be annoyed if we ran off without her. We should ask her."

So we did. Annabeth poked both of us roughly.

"You guys are idiots," she shook her head. "You're not going anywhere without me!"

"As long as you promise not to almost die again," I said, sternly. Luke crossed his arms. It felt like we were parents. "Okay?"

"I won't!" Annabeth promised.

Luke put his arm around Annabeth. "Then let's get packing."

* * *

I headed over to my cabin, and stuffed my sleeping bag, extra clothes, toothbrush, Ambrosia/nectar, Drachmas and mortal money into a bag. Plus, a bit of food as well. My mace canister and Aegis, I carried with me.

I slipped on my favourite black leather jacket with tons of badges, ripped jeans, and my favourite gold chain necklace that had a cross on it. I put some eyeliner on as well; it makes me look more intimidating. Also, it looks good with my eyes.

Luke packed his favourite sword, a pair of flying shoes (from his dad) and some extra clothes like me. If you're wondering how we can just carry weapons around in mortal view, well, it's called the Mist. Stops mortals from seeing everything. That's what I meant about my mace canister. Annabeth brought her knife Luke gave her, and a black Yankees baseball cap. She'd got it from her mother after she woke up, some kind of reward.

The three of us hiked up Half-Blood Hill, the place where we almost died. Great time that was.

Argus, our driver, and Chiron were waiting there for us, probably to send us off. Annabeth turned to me, offering her cap.

"What's this for?" I asked, frowning.

"It's a gift," Annabeth said, smiling. "For you. A birthday gift."

From what I could remember, the hat turned anyone who wore it invisible. I was heart-warmed.

"Aw, Annabeth," I said. "Your mom gave you this! Are you sure-"

"Yeah," Annabeth said, grabbing my hand. "I'm sure. With your shield, sword and this, nothing will be able to stop you, Thals!"

"She's right," Luke said. He looked proud of Annabeth. "It's pretty useful."

I gave Annabeth a tight hug, and grabbed Luke's arm, getting him involved. He blushed bright red.

"Can't... breathe..." Annabeth panted into my jacket. "Air..."

I let her go, blushing.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Well. Are you 3 ready to go on your quest?"

I looked at my friends. They nodded.

I turned to Chiron. "Let's do this."


	7. I blow up a bus

We clambered into Argus' van and drove off, waving goodbye to other campers. I spotted Max standing on a rock, trying to look tall as he waved. What an idiot. Sweet, but still stupid.

It felt weird, leaving camp. It had only been two months, but it had become my home. And now we were going back into the real world.

Annabeth was fiddling with her knife. Luke was tense, but offered me friendly smiles. I pulled out my MP3 player and put on some Green Day, then stared out the window. I watched the world go by; the trees, people on the sidewalks, fast-food restaurants. I felt an energy burning inside me. Yeah, it was weird leaving camp, but it was also exciting. The time we'd spent running around were the best years of my life. No rules, no responsibilities. It was the closest thing to freedom I'd ever experienced.

This quest was like doing it all over again. There was no one else I'd rather be with.

Luke squeezed my hand. I squeezed it back. I noticed one of Argus' eyes was watching us, so I glared at it. Annabeth giggled. What a traitor!

Argus dropped us off at the Greyhound station. He helped us pull our bags out of the back and made sure we had our bus tickets. He kept glancing at Luke and I, like he was expecting us to make out or something.

Anyway, once he was gone, we waited around for the bus. I kept my arms folded, which caused other people waiting to edge away from me. I'd call myself pretty intimidating. Luke always said my eyes could 'shoot a million volts'. I swore I saw some kid around Annabeth's age staring at my shield, but his mom dragged him away before he could say anything.

I sensed some rain coming, so I used a bit of my powers to stop it from hitting us. The bus was taking ages, so we played a bit of pictionary using the back of one of Annabeth's books. Annabeth was really good at the game. Like, really good. No matter what I drew, she guessed it. I wasn't so good. How was I supposed to know that was bread? Even Luke was better than me. Ugh.

The bus finally came and we got on board. We sat at the back, where there were plenty of seats. We stashed our bags under our seats. I leaned onto my seat, sighing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke go stiff.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

His eyes were directed at the front of the bus. An old lady was boarding the bus. She was wearing a huge hat and a purple velvet dress. She glanced at me, and almost instantly, I recognised her face. She was a fury. The one that almost killed me.

I felt electricity running up my arms. It got worse when two more old ladies, equally as evil, climbed on board. They sat at the front, crossing their legs and making an X. No escape for us.

But I didn't care. I was hungry for revenge.

"Thalia," Luke said, putting a hand on my arm. "Calm down. It's getting stormier outside."

Thunder boomed.

"Anywhere we can escape?" Annabeth asked. She looked around. "I don't see any open windows…"

"No back exit, either," Luke said, looking behind.

"That's fine," I said, putting my hand on my spear, "because I'll happily fight them."

"Thalia," Luke said. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

"Of course I do!" I snapped. I forced myself to keep my voice level. "I'm not letting that happen again. That's why I'm going to fight them."

We hit the Lincoln tunnel, and suddenly it got a lot darker, aside from the lights on the ceiling. I could hear the storm overhead.

"I have to use the restroom." said one of the Kindly ones.

"So do I," said the second

"So do I," said the third.

They started walking down the aisle. I stood up.

"Thalia, please," Annabeth whispered. "Use the hat. Sneak past them and escape. You're the one they want."

"That's why I'm here," I said. "I'm giving them what they want."

The storm got even louder. I swore I heard my friends groaning in sync.

"Well, if she's fighting, then I'm fighting too." Luke said, and stood beside me. "Three on three. We can take it."

Annabeth sighed, but joined us. I gave her a grateful smile.

I held up Aegis as the Furies approached. They turned from old ladies to the scariest (and hugest) bats you'll ever see, armed with gargoyle claws and whips. Their eyes blazed with fury (no pun intended). I glared straight back.

"Thalia Grace," Alecto, the first one, said. I scowled; not much upsets me more than people using my last name. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"You first," I growled, slamming my spear through her body. She roared, flailing back. She turned into gold dust. The other two cried out and flew towards me, holding out their whips.

"Not today," Luke yelled, slicing one of the Furies across the side. Annabeth stabbed the one in the back. Mortals were screaming. I didn't know what they were seeing, but it obviously wasn't pretty.

"You did not die last time," the Furies screamed, getting back up. "That will not happen again!"

I glared at them. "Ego illum ulciscar!"

That Latin more or less translates to 'I will have my revenge!'

The storm grew louder and louder. I felt electricity building up in the sky. We were in New Jersey now, somewhere near the Hudson River. I clenched my fists, bracing for impact. The sky boomed and thundered. My domain. I could use it to my advantage. It was a risk, but I was going to take it.

Though a little part of me was curious: the Furies weren't as aggressive as they'd been the first time I'd seen them. So why...?

Whatever. No matter how they were acting, they were going to die.

"Time to end this!" I yelled. I grabbed Luke and Annabeth, still glowing with electricity. The rain poured and poured, and I almost thought there was going to be a flood. Wind howled, and the power continued to grow.

"What is this?" the Furies screamed.

I yelled out, feeling power racing through me. No. Too much power. Way too much for me to control. I almost fell over; I saved myself by grabbing onto an arm rest.

"Wait!" I yelled.

Too late. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky, shredding a hole through the roof of the bus. The mortals screamed, and the bus did a 180, crashing into billions of cars. Part of the roof fell onto the Furies, crushing them. Bad news, we all fell over as well. I crashed into some random guy, causing him to scream and run away. The bus lurched, and I hit my head again.

"Our bags!" Annabeth yelled, getting out from under a seat. My lip twinged. While the roof had crushed the Furies, it also crushed all our stuff. Whoops.

"Damn," I cursed. "I didn't mean for it to do that much damage!"

"It was a lightning bolt, Thalia!" Luke yelled. "What did you except?"

I glared at him. "Hey-"

"Guys!" Annabeth stepped in. "We need to get off. They won't stay under there forever."

I sighed. Don't you hate it when seven year olds are smarter than you?

"Let's scram, guys," I agreed. We ran towards the entrance of the bus, many mortals following us while panicking. Then we disappeared into the cold, dark, rainy night.

Not going to lie, my attire is sick. Ripped jeans, a sweet black leather jacket on top of a grey v-line, tons of silver bracelets and charms. Black boots. I love it.

Except when it's raining and freezing cold, of course.

The cold got all through my body. Water trickled out of my sleeves, and my face had specks of mud splattered across it, matching my freckles. I held up my arm as we walked through the woods of some New Jersey riverbank, slowing down the rain. The weather was too insane for even me to control, but I could stop the hail, at least.

"All our stuff was back there," Luke grunted. "We could've handled that differently."

"Look, I lost control at the last moment!" I snapped. "This storm is out of my control. If it wasn't, we wouldn't be walking through rain."

"Still, a lightning bolt?" Luke asked. "Were you trying to show off?"

I glared at him, harshly. "No! I was trying to do my job!"

"You could've killed us, and tons of mortals, too, for that matter!"

"I knew what I was doing!"

"You said you lost control!"

"At the last moment! I had a p-"

"Guys, please!" Annabeth said, stepping between us. "Arguing isn't going to help anyone, okay? Thalia did something dumb, but yelling about it isn't going to change anything."

I clenched my fists. I knew she was right, but I wasn't going to say it. Luke did too.

"Fine," Luke sighed. "Let's just try and get out of here."

I folded my arms as we walked through the forest. I ignored Luke, huffing whenever he looked at me. The three of us had been navigating the country for years, so we didn't have much problem finding our way through the forest. Especially when in the distance, I smelled something amazing and saw something shiny and neon… food…

"Fried… food…" I drooled. I'm a sucker for junk food, especially burgers. Camp Half Blood's menu was a lot healthier, and that was great and all, but it didn't make the cut for me. Nothing filled me up like a double cheeseburger. When we were running around in the old days, we went out for junk food all the time.

"Come on, guys," I said. "Fast food!"

"We have no money." Luke said, sneering.

"You can steal some," I said. "I'm not missing out on junk food."

(Yeah... maybe food made me a little morally corrupt.)

Luke sighed. "Anything for you, Thals."

We followed the smell of the restaurant. It was on a deserted lane, along with an old billboard and a gas station. I could see the neon lights from a mile away. They belonged to not a fast food restaurant but some kind of emporium. It was a long, flat warehouse, surrounded by stone statues. I could barely read the sign, because Dyslexia really liked to mess up my life.

"Can you guys read that?" I asked.

My friends shook their head. Even the book-nerd, Annabeth, had trouble reading neon signs.

"I think it says… something about an emporium?" Luke asked.

"Well, as long as it has food, I don't care what it is," I said. We walked towards it, getting a better look at the statues. Little stone dwarves, smiling and waving, like they were about to get their picture taken. There were children, adults, and plenty more of the like. The smell was distracting, and now I couldn't get my mind off burgers.

"Something about this place… unsettles me." Annabeth said.

"How so?" Luke asked.

"I don't know, it just…" Annabeth shook her head. "I don't like it."

"Thalia?" Luke turned to me.

"We've seen places like this before," I said, putting on a more sensible tone. "Gardens, stuff like that. This can't be any different."

Luke nodded. "Seems fair."

Annabeth was frowning. "Fine. Let's go in."

And we did.


	8. I cut off a grandma's head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I forgot to update. XD
> 
> Sorry guys, I've been busy with school + drawing things. The updates may become more staggered. Hope that's all good.
> 
> Thanks for reading as always!

 

* * *

We got to the front of the building. A woman answered the door. She looked Middle-Eastern, with a long, black gown, covering everything but her manicured hands. Her head was covered in a veil. I had a feeling she could've been a beautiful woman once, but now, she was an elderly grandmother.

"Children, it is late to be out all alone," she said. Her accent was Middle-Eastern, too. "Where are your parents?"

"Not here," Luke said. Looks like he'd decided to play the 'lost and helpless' card. "They… they left us. We don't… have parents."

"You do not?" the woman asked.

"No," Luke shook his head, his voice full of melancholy. "We've been… running around by ourselves for ages, escaping the evil authorities. We… we smelled the food here and…"

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."

We thanked her and went inside.

"The evil authorities," I muttered to Luke. "You've got to be kidding."

"Hey, you can't say you love the authorities," Luke said. "We've had problems with them before, remember?"

"I don't want to remember." I muttered. I really didn't. When we were on the run, we'd had a few close calls. Luke was a good thief, but that didn't stop him from occasionally slipping up.

We walked past even more statues. They were all life-sized, which explained why Aunty Em had such a huge warehouse. I wondered what she was doing with all these statues. Was she a collector? I didn't stay on the thought for long. The smell of burgers was way too distracting.

You may think it was dumb for us all to just walk into some stranger's place, but I could defend myself if I had to. No old lady could take me on. And plus, my will crumbles around burgers. They're just… so  _good_. I didn't even notice Annabeth's worried expression.

I almost ran to the dining area, drawn in by the amazing smell. At the back there was a fast-food counter, a soft drink machine… and plenty of picnic tables.

"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.

"Oh yeah." I said, pulling out a seat for myself. My friends sat next to me.

"We… don't have any money, ma'am." Annabeth said, slightly wistful. Both Luke and I glared at her.

"No, no, children. No money," Aunty Em said. "This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

"Thank you, ma'am." Luke said. He was always the courteous one.

"Quite alright, Luke," Aunty Em said. "But do consider your choices carefully."

Aunty Em disappeared behind the snack counter.

"She…" Annabeth frowned. "How did she know Luke's name?"

"She did?" I asked, in some kind of daze. My brain kept focusing on a double cheeseburger with a load of fries, a huge, vanilla shake on the side...

"She… did, didn't she?" Luke asked. "And… she told me to consider my choices…"

I frowned, blinking. I was so hungry, but at the same time, my suspicions were aroused. I had to fight it.

"Not a coincidence," I forced. I shook my head, wiping my eyes. "No. There's something wrong with her."

Luke tilted his head. He flicked his wrist, wielding his sword. "Then let's get ready."

Aunty Em came around, wielding a tray full of junk food. My legs felt like they were going to buckle. It took all my strength not to succumb to the sweet scent of a double cheeseburger.

"Children, what is the meaning of this?" Aunty Em asked. "Why are you wielding those weapons?"

"You know why," I growled. "You're not really human, are you?"

I bet Aunty Em would've put a hand over her heart if she wasn't holding a tray.

"How could you say such a thing?" she asked. "After I have offered you somewhere warm and provided you food?"

I felt my resistance shatter a little, but I stood still.

"Because…" Annabeth stepped forward, with bravery I admired but also cursed. "You're Medusa!"

We all stood there in silence, for a few moments. Then I felt angry with myself. Why didn't I figure it out sooner? We were used to fighting monsters.

And I'd been lured in. Gods, I wanted to punch something.

Aunty Em began to laugh. It was a typical evil laugh you'd see from a Disney character.

"Oh, children," she hissed. Just like the snakes on her head. "You really are fools."

She removed her veil.

"Look away!" Luke yelled. Annabeth and I obeyed. I heard the sound of hissing snakes. I already knew how hideous Medusa would be. Her face was on my shield, Aegis. I can't describe how she looks. She's uglier than anything you've ever seen. So ugly I can't put it into words. The best I can say is her head is covered in snakes, and her hands have long, sharp talons.

"It would be a shame to kill such a handsome young man," Medusa said. I peeked out of the corner of my eye. I saw the back Medusa approaching Luke. He wasn't looking at her, even though she sounded like a sympathetic old grandmother. "The gray-eyed one did this to me, Luke. Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."

"Luke!" I yelled. "Don't listen to her!"

I ran over to the monster, my spear in hand.

"Silence!" Medusa yelled, turning around. I covered my eyes, holding up Aegis. Medusa roared.

"You dare wield that shield?" she screeched. "You have offended me greatly, daughter of Zeus. You will be second to die after Annabeth!"

"Get away from Luke!" I yelled, charging towards her. I stared at her feet, not letting my eyes drift to her face. Medusa jumped out of the way, her snakes hissing.

"You really want to be a pawn of the Olympians, Thalia?" she asked. "Do you understand what will happen if you continue on this foolish quest? Hades will kill you. Your friends will fall. It will be a kinder fate to stay as a statue forever. Less pain."

I felt electricity raging through me. It made my spear glow.

"I'd rather die than be a statue forever," I growled. "At least I can say I tried!"

"Thalia!" Annabeth yelled, in fright.

I hoisted my spear towards Medusa. She screamed, and went flying into some statues. Bits and pieces of them cracked and fell apart. My heart jumped to my throat. Those had been living people. I tried not to feel sick.

"Go Thalia!" Annabeth cheered. Luke, who was hovering using his shoes, gave me a thumbs up. He was holding a piece of broken statue, which he threw onto Medusa. She cried out. However, she got up quickly, and immediately turned to Annabeth.

"Go, Thals," Luke said, grabbing my shoulder. "Kill her. I'll keep Annabeth out of harm's way."

I nodded. I pulled out the invisibility cap Annabeth gave me and slipped it on. You might be wondering why I'd chosen to kill Medusa, instead of just focusing on leaving. Well, if we'd let her live, who knew how many people she could've killed? I wouldn't be able to sit with it.

I crawled back, waiting for Medusa to stand up. She was still focused on Annabeth. No way in Hades was I going to let her hurt Annabeth. I sneaked towards her, gazing at her midriff. I tightened my grip on my spear. Then, I leaped up in the air, and struck, right at the neck.

Medusa let out a roar, and I heard a  _shlock_ , like something was being cut open. I covered my face, feeling something thicker than rain cover me. A wet and round object rolled next to my shoes, and I felt tiny, dying snakes pecking my ankles. I wanted to throw up even more, but I kept it down.

"Gross," Luke said, taking his arm off Annabeth. "You did a good job, Thalia… though, really, you should have a long shower."

I looked at my sleeves. They were covered in a green muck that I did not want on my body.

"Right," I said, cringing. Luke kneeled next to me, and wrapped Medusa's head in her black clothing. It was a spoil of war, so it didn't disintegrate like monsters usually do.

"Don't look at it," Annabeth said.

"I know," I replied, wiping my forehead. I had a feeling my black eyeliner had come off, too. "It can still petrify us."

After walking around for a bit, we found some plastic grocery bags and wrapped up Medusa's head. Twice. We put it in another bag, then collapsed at one of the picnic tables. Well, Luke didn't. He brought over the junk food Medusa had made, but never gave us.

"Seriously?" I asked him. "You think I want to eat, after doing  _that_?"

I jerked my head towards the plastic-covered, severed head of Medusa.

"You were going on about it, Thals," Luke said, but not unkindly. "We're not in danger anymore, anyway. Why should we let this food go to waste?"

"Point to you." I grumbled.

I was sort of hesitant at first, but as soon as I bit into the burger, I had downed the whole thing in almost two seconds. I grabbed the greasy fries in one hand. They had gone a little cold, but I didn't care. Annabeth slurped her vanilla milkshake, while Luke was still on his burger.

"Hey, Annabeth," I said, after having some of my own milkshake. "How did you figure out who she was so quickly? Pretty sure Luke and I didn't have a clue."

Annabeth looked away, for a moment. "Well… um, I was already suspicious that… that we were being drawn in by the smell, and then I saw all the statues. I also heard snakes hissing."

"Smart," Luke said. "I mean, even for you, that's really smart, Annabeth."

"Yeah." Annabeth said. Her tone went on edge, like it was uncomfortable to talk about. "So… what are we going to do with the head?"

I frowned. "Burn it?"

Luke sat up, with his trademark mischievous smirk that made my heart flutter. "I've got an idea. Give me a sec."

He got up, and ran off. He had some fries leftover, so I pinched one.

"What do you think he's got in mind?" Annabeth asked.

"No idea," I shrugged. "But it'll be funny."

Annabeth snorted. She hadn't eaten as much as Luke and I. She looked a little pale, now that I thought about it.

"Hey," I asked. "You okay?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… shaken up. Medusa was crazy. She really wanted to kill me."

I thought about what Medusa said.  _You really want to be a pawn of the Olympians, Thalia?_

I could see some merit in what she said. The gods were the reason monsters hated our guts. Medusa hated Annabeth because she was Athena's child, and Athena was the one that made Medusa what she was - a monster.

But I wasn't anyone's  _pawn_. I was doing what needed to be done.

"I wouldn't have let her," I told Annabeth. "Trust me, Annie. I'm not going to let anything else hurt you."

Annabeth smiled gratefully, but I saw a flash of fear in her eyes.

Luke came back, carrying a package box, a small, leather bag over his shoulder, which jingled as it bounced against his hip, and a delivery slip in one hand.

"What's all this?" I asked.

Luke winked. "You'll see."

He picked up Medusa's plastic-wrapped head and put it in the package. He filled out the message slip with sloppy handwriting, then attached it to the side of the box. I read it; it was addressed to the gods. He put some golden drachmas into a small pouch connected to the box. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a  _pop!_

"Wow," I said, raising my brow. "Risky, Luke. Thought you liked the gods now."

Luke gave me a mischievous smile, but his downcast eyes betrayed the image. "Not completely. I may not… be a part of  _you know what_  anymore, but that doesn't mean I love the gods."

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked, glancing at the spot where the package had been. She didn't look interested, oddly.

"Nothing," Luke said quickly. "Anyway, I found some old couches at the back. They're not top quality beds, but I think you'd rather stay on them than in the mud."

I turned to Annabeth. She nodded.

"Fine," I said. "As long as they have some blankets."

"I found some," Luke said. "Not the best blankets in the world, but it'll do. We've dealt with worse."

So we followed Luke to the couches. I kept glancing at him. He looked attractive as always, but I felt a bit… guilty. I leaned a bit closer to him, and kept my voice down so only he could hear.

"Hey," I said. "Sorry. About exploding the bus before."

Luke sighed. "Don't worry about it, Thals. It happened. Let's just move on."

"You'd think I'd be better at this quest stuff," I said, shaking my head. "I guess being in one place for a few months really messed me over." Part of me wished we were normal mortals. Then we would be safe at a house, sleeping, eating, or doing homework… actually, I hate homework. I'd rather go on a quest.

Luke kissed me on the cheek. I felt like I was going to explode like Medusa did.

"I don't mean to be offensive, but you smell, like, really bad right now," Luke said.

I laughed. "I hoped you found a shower."

"I did," Luke said. He waved his hands around. "It's called: a garden hose."

I scowled. "Great."

"Right this way," Luke said, like I was going to some luxury bathroom. He raised his voice. "Hey, Annabeth, Thalia's getting a shower. I'll be right back!"

"Okay!" Annabeth nodded, running off to the old couches.

I followed Luke to the 'shower'. He turned on the garden hose, and splashed himself in the face. I burst out laughing. Luke turned the hose on me, and it became a war. We fought over the hose, both getting soaking wet.

"Stay down!" I yelled, ripping the hose out of his hands. Luke made a jump, and landed on top of me. The hose got crushed between us.

"So… cold…" Luke shivered, dripping wet. "But I'd put up with much worse for you, Thalia."

"Cheesy idiot," I said, kicking him off. My face was red, and what was left of my eyeliner was covering my cheeks like a black waterfall.

"Come on," Luke shook his head. "Annabeth will be waiting for us."

We headed back to Annabeth, holding hands. Being with Luke made me feel better. I really did love him.


	9. A chihuahua blowtorches the Arch

I'm going to admit it: I've slept on worse.

Sure, the couch smelled like the 1950s and was covered in dust, which didn't look great on my already-partly ruined leather jacket. But hey. I've slept on the ground with no pillows, no jackets, nothing before. Compared to that, this was Elysium.

Annabeth had already fallen asleep by the time Luke and I returned to the room, on a separate couch. I was about done with the night too, and flopped onto my couch. Luke threw a blanket over me.

"Thanks," I said, but then sat up. "Um, you sure you want to watch guard?"

"Just go to sleep, Thalia," Luke said. "You deserve it."

"Well, wake me up if you're getting tired," I said. "Goodnight, Luke."

Luke nodded. "Goodnight."

And I fell asleep.

* * *

Of course, I had another amazing dream. And by 'amazing', I mean horrible. As usual, I was surrounded by darkness, and I couldn't see a thing.

_You made a mistake._

"Who's there?" I asked.

_You will regret this._

"What?" I asked, looking around. I held out my hands, but felt nothing. "Who… who are you?"

I felt the ground shake. No. Someone was shaking  _me_. I opened my eyes, seeing my friends staring down at me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Good morning, Princess," Luke said. "You really know how to sleep in."

"Oh, shut it." I snapped, slapping his arm playfully.

"Hi, Thalia!" Annabeth said cheerfully. She held up some toast. "Want breakfast?"

"You know I do," I said, taking some of the toast. It was covered in jam. "Where'd you find this?"

"In a fridge," Annabeth said. "Medusa has a lot of food stashed around here. Jam, bread, a toaster..."

I bit into the toast. The jam was the most amazing jam I'd ever tried. It was just the right amount of sweetness, bitterness, and full of flavour.

"Bring this jam with us," I said.

"We will," Luke laughed. He held up a bag. "I also did some…  _mild_  theft. Let's just say, we have some money now."

I gave him a thumbs up, and climbed off the old couch. "Then let's get out of here."

* * *

There was a railway station not too far from us, so that's where we headed. We bought three train tickets, and climbed onto the Amtrak train. It took two days, so yeah, that was a lot of games of charades and 'I spy' we played. Thankfully, we didn't get attacked by any monsters.

I spent some time looking out the window. I saw a herd of centaurs run past, and waved to a centaur that looked around my age. I then gazed at Luke, who had taken a nap. I wondered if he had kept his promise about joining our side. For the sake of Olympus, I hoped so. What would I do if he didn't?

I stared at my hands. Glumness settled over me, and I started following little scratches in the window with my fingernail. Luke had only managed to get around $200 (which was still impressive, I guess), so we could only go as far as Denver. Luke said we could sell some of the food from Medusa's, but I wasn't sure about selling monster-made food to mortals. It had made us kind of loopy. What would it do to normal humans?

I leaned back in my seat. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it made me miss the couch. I slipped on my headphones, and played some Green Day. I smiled, and began nodding along to the music.

"Hey, Thalia," I felt someone tugging my jacket. Annabeth was there. I pulled out my headphones.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked. "You were muttering 'who's there', and 'get away from me' in your sleep. What was all that about?"

I frowned. "Well… uh, basically… I've been having these weird dreams for a little while. This evil voice in a crevice keeps speaking to me, telling me to help it 'rise', evilly laughing..." I had a feeling of  _who_  that voice belonged to, but I had a debt to keep, so I didn't tell her who. I also left out the whole bit about Luke.

Annabeth's expression was hard to decipher. "You think it's Hades?"

"Uh, sure," I said. "I mean…" I glanced at Luke, "... he stole the lightning bolt."

Annabeth frowned. "Still… sounds a bit weird though. I was talking to Chiron, and he said Hades usually doesn't like demigods, so he wouldn't want your help… and plus, he sits on a black throne, and doesn't laugh." She tilted her head. "Did it say anything else?"

"Yeah," I said. "It said I made a mistake."

Annabeth raised her brow. "A mistake?"

I nodded. "I don't know what it means."

"Maybe it's referring to this quest," she said. "After all, Hades doesn't like you that much."

"The feeling is mutual," I growled. "Trust me, I'm aware of the dangers. But I can handle it."

I hoped.

Annabeth looked away. "I'm sure you can, Thalia."

She didn't sound very confident. That made me feel no better.

"You know," I said. "The Furies have treated us worse. On the bus there was something… off about them. They kept asking 'where is it?' 'Where?' Remember?"

"Maybe they think we have the bolt?" Annabeth suggested.

I glanced at Luke once again. "Maybe."

Annabeth's expression was dark, and unreadable. It was kind of odd. "Thalia, you know… you can't barter with Hades. He's not honest. He'll try to kill you."

"Do I have a choice?" I asked. "I mean… it's Winter, right? Persephone will be there. Maybe I have a chance."

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe you should think about it, Thalia. There might be other options that are better."

I was about to ask what she meant, but by then, train staff had come in to offer us lunch, so Luke woke up and we took a break.

* * *

It was eight days before the new year, and I'd seen so much snow I was afraid I was going to puke.

The Mississippi River was covered in chunks of ice, the sun making them shine like diamonds. Snow covered the brown grass, and in the distance I saw some kids making snowmen and snow angels. Mortals had no idea how lucky they were, taking the simplest things for granted. I almost wished I could run around and make some snowmen.

We passed the Gateway Arch, which Annabeth gazed at with wide eyes.

"Amazing," she said. "I'm going to build something just like that, someday."

"I'm sure you will, Annie," Luke said, kindly. "Your drawings are very impressive."

Annabeth smiled at him, gratefully. "I'll build something so great, even the gods will be impressed."

I had no trouble doubting that. Annabeth was very smart and creative for her age; she'd easily become an architect.

The arch disappeared behind a hotel, and the train pulled to a stop at the Amtrak train station. The intercom told us we had three hours before we departed for Denver.

"Can we go to the Arch?" Annabeth asked, squirming in her seat. She put puppy eyes on. "Please?"

I glanced at Luke. He nodded.

"For a quick visit," I said, and Annabeth lit up with glee, making me temporarily forget all my problems.

"There might be a few mortals around that I can pickpocket as well," Luke said, winking at me. My heart started beating a little faster. I cursed at myself for getting flustered so easily.

"Let's go!" Annabeth said, jumping up. She grabbed our arms. "Come on, come on!"

"Whoa, Annie, chill!" I laughed, as we ran out of the train. We basically skipped the whole way to the Arch (yep, we skipped for a mile), while Annabeth told us random facts about historical architecture, and all her knowledge about the Arch. I put my arm in with Luke's, making us look like Annabeth's parents. Occasionally, he would run off and sneak behind an unsuspecting mortal, casually taking a few bills out of their wallets.

When we got to the Arch, the line wasn't too big, thankfully, but Annabeth didn't seem so excited anymore. She looked nervous, like she did at Medusa's.

"You okay, Annie?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she said. "I… just, wasn't expecting to see this place in real life."

Luke smiled. "Well, here we are. The elevator's this way. Come on, ladies!"

I rolled my eyes as we followed Luke. The elevator to the top of the Arch was tiny. Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. Not because the elevator was tiny, but because the Arch was so high up… I'd been fine with seeing it from the ground, but actually going up there?

"Thalia?" Luke put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm… fine." I choked out, as we got into the elevator. I could've stayed down there, but I didn't want to leave my friends, so I made myself go. The only other one there with us were some older teens and this fat lady and her chihuahua, which had a rhinestone collar. The lady had beady eyes and a long, jean dress that barely covered her weight. She smelled like she'd had about 5 cups of coffee.

"No parents?" the woman asked.

"They're below," Luke said. "Scared of heights."

I felt like I was going to vomit.

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now sonny. Behave."

It could've been height sickness, but I swore the dog glared at me. Annabeth was giving it a funny stare. She had gone completely tense.

Once the elevator finally opened, the room before us was not worth me almost throwing up to see. It was like a tin can with carpets, with rows of tiny windows to view the city. Looking  _out_  the window made me feel even worse. I turned away, going green. I almost tripped over.

"Whoa there," Luke held my arms. He turned to Annabeth. "Annie, Thalia's feeling sick. We should-"

"No, I'm fine," I said, standing up. "Really."

Luke frowned. "You don't look it."

"I am." I insisted, clenching my fists.

"The deck will be closing in a few minutes," the ranger said. "Make your way to the elevator when you can."

Oh thank the Gods. I was sick (no pun intended) of this place already. I trudged over to the elevator and climbed in, Luke holding my arm. That's what I noticed Annabeth was still outside, and the elevator was full. The fat lady was there too.

"Wait, Annie…" I said. The fat lady smiled at me, her forked tongue flicking between her teeth. Forked tongue. Suddenly I forgot about being sick, and shoved through the elevator.

"Thalia!" Luke yelled. Some of the teens there were glaring at me.

"Go on," I said, nudging Annabeth into the elevator. "I'll be fine."

Both my friends looked like they wanted to protest (my stomach did too), but the elevator doors closed, and they disappeared down the ramp. I instantly regretted my decision, and went back to feeling sick.

The chihuahua barked at me. I reached for my spear.

"Silly girl," the woman laughed. "Go on, son. Let's finish her."

The chihuahua grew in size until it brushed against the roof. It had a lion's head with blood-red mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, a serpent for a tail, and a huge diamondback coming out of its behind. The woman had turned into what looked like an anthropomorphic snake, with green, scaly skin and slitted eyes. Her teeth were fangs.

The teens on the Arch screamed. The Park Ranger had frozen up.

I held up my shield. "You're Echidna. The mother of monsters."

"Correct, daughter of Zeus!" the monster laughed. "I am glad you recognise me! Destroying you will be a great pleasure. Be honored! So rarely do I get the chance to destroy a hero like you."

The chihuahua leaped towards me, maw open. I jumped out of the way. I was nearby some of the teens, who were pounding against the emergency exit. Protecting mortals wasn't my top priority, but I wouldn't feel very good if a few people died because of me. I moved away and waved my arms around.

"Hey, chihuahua!" I yelled. The Chimera turned towards me, fire coming out of its mouth. I yelped, holding up my shield as the fire seared a hole right through the wall. The metal melted like chocolate. Thank the gods Annabeth wasn't here, she would've been screaming.

I made the stupid mistake of looking outside the hole, and felt the sickness rise up in me all over again. I almost fell over.

"What's wrong, child?" Echidna asked. "Scared of heights? An interesting fear for a child of Zeus."

I gritted my teeth, about to vomit. "Shut up…"

Echidna laughed. The Chimera bounded towards me, roaring. I scrambled to my feet, and narrowly dodged the snapping jaws. No way I could fight when I was going to chunder any second now. The only other option was jumping out the window, and there was no way in Hades I was doing that. Just looking out there made my skin crawl.

I had to do  _something_. I pulled my hand through my hair and screamed at myself to  _think_.

"Die, you brat!" Echidna yelled, the Chimera charging towards me again. I held up my shield, which made it flinch. I then launched my spear into monster's underbelly. It roared, almost deafening me. But it wasn't dead. Just angrier.

"Fool!" Echidna laughed. "You really think that will work?"

The Chimera suddenly lunged forward and hit me. I flew backwards, landing right by the hole.

"Let's see the gods save you when you fall to your death!" Echidna laughed.

"No…" I groaned, but it was too late. The Chimera shoved me out of the window.


	10. I fall from Grace (no pun intended)

There's a reason I hate heights. Maybe you think it's ironic considering my dad is god of the sky but trust me, I have my reasons.

Falling to my death was one of them.

I screamed my heart out. I let out a final prayer, as the water below came rushing towards me at the speed of a truck. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact…

But it never came. Suddenly, I was floating, my hair whipping around my face. I opened my eyes, wondering if I was still alive. I was in mid-air, a breeze flowing around me. I began screaming again.

"Hey," a voice said. "Calm down. You're fine."

I slowly opened my eyes. A guy was floating next to me. He had curly, black hair and a kind smile. He was wearing casual clothes, and had his arms by his side.

"Daughter of Zeus?" he asked. "You're awfully worked up."

"Um," I said. "Who are you?"

"Zephyros," the guy said. "The West Wind."

My eyes widened. My lips felt dry. "Oh… um… you… saved me. Thank you." My speech wasn't working today. Didn't really help that I was floating 300 feet in the air.

Zephyros nodded. "You know, kid, you have a bit of control over the wind yourself. Try using it next time you need to jump off something, okay? You can even use it to fly."

"Fly...?" I asked, blinking.

"I've got to go," Zephyros said, glancing at his watch. "Too many mortals here. Practice those powers."

I began to go down.

"Oh, and Thalia," Zephyros said. "Your father wanted you to know he's proud of you. He believes you'll be able to retrieve the bolt."

I began blushing.  _Proud of me?_

I felt myself being lowered, like I was in some kind of invisible elevator, until my feet hit the ground. I breathed out deeply, sweat building on my forehead. I looked up. A ton of people were staring at me, and the police were holding up their guns. Emergency vehicles were everywhere, as well as countless news reporters.

"Did you fall out of the Arch?" a news reporter asked, holding her microphone towards me.

"Did you cause the hole in the wall?" another asked, getting right up in my personal space.

"Are you responsible for any of the accidents caused?" a third one asked, pointing a camera in my face. I covered my face with my hands.

"Um, no," I said, quickly. "Gotta go!"

I put on my invisibility cap and ran away. The mortals began shouting all at once, giving me the headache of the century. I looked around for my friends, while also trying not to crash into anyone.

"Where'd she go?" people were shouting.

"That was a girl?" another one asked.

"Is she a message from God?" someone asked. "She descended from the Heavens!"

I almost started laughing at that.

"Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch…" a news reporter said.

"Supposedly, it was an adolescent girl," another said. "Witnesses say she began floating mid air, and slowly descended down. Some say she is an omen from the heavens."

I ran around the police perimeter. It was ridiculously long, and the crowd was growing more every second. I was starting to get tired, when I spotted my friends. I crept up behind them.

"Annabeth!" I shouted-whispered. "Luke!"

I removed my hat, revealing myself. My friends turned to me, smiling wide.

"Thalia!" They both yelled.

"Hey, guys," I said.

"I can't believe you did that!" Luke said, waving his hands. "I know you're the daughter of Zeus, but come on!"

"But she survived," Annabeth added, "she's amazing! She floated down!"

I began blushing even more. "You guys…"

"... should get out of here," Luke finished. "Come on. We've got a train to catch."

We ran over to the train, managing to scramble onto it before it left for Denver. I told my friends about Zephyros, and the wind powers.

"You can fly?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, and control wind," I said. I frowned. Was there ever a chance I'd actually  _fly_?

"That's a very useful power," Luke said. "You'll be like a superhero, Thals!"

"Yeah, sure," I said, trying not to sound nervous. The idea of being up in the air again made me sick. I thought about what Zephyros had said.  _Your father wants you to know he's proud of you._ I felt angry. It took him this long to send me a message, and he couldn't even tell me himself?

Part of me, on the other hand, was grateful. My dad had noticed me. He wasn't ashamed of me, he was  _proud_  of me. And that thought, believe it or not, made me smile.


	11. A god buys us cheeseburgers

We had about a week until the new year, and possibly, the end of the world. And the only thing on my mind was food.

We'd had some crappy food on the train that was nothing compared to what we'd had at Medusa's. Plus, we hadn't showered for ages either. We clambered out of the train, now at Denver, attached with putrid stenches.

"We should talk to Chiron," Annabeth said. "He'd want an update."

"True," I said. "Where are we going to find a spray gun full of water, though?"

"A car-wash, obviously," Luke said. "Come on, there'll be one around, somewhere."

We wandered around for a while, eyes peeled. It was icy and cool, just like everywhere else we'd been. I shivered, hugging myself for warmth. The Rocky Mountains surrounded us like giant tidal waves. We eventually spotted an empty do-it-yourself car wash. Once we made sure there were no patrol cars, we jumped for it.

"You guys got some extra change?" Luke asked, holding up the spray gun. I rummaged through my pockets, and handed him twenty five cents. "Thanks."

He set the dial on the spray gun to 'fine mist', and aimed it at the sky. The mist sprayed out, connecting with the faint sun and making a rainbow. If you have no idea why we're doing this, well, it's called Iris-messaging. You'll see what I mean.

"I've got the drachma," Annabeth said. She held it over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared with a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," she said.

Nothing happened, for a moment. Then an image appeared: the strawberry fields, the cabins, Long Island Sound. I felt an ache of homesickness. We appeared to be on the porch of the Big House.

"Where's Chiron?" I asked.

"Not here," a familiar voice said. "He's dealing with the campers."

Max Badmil. He walked in front of the screen, his hair messier than I remember. Seeing him made me feel even more homesick.

"Hey, Max," I said.

"Heya," Max said. "How's the quest going?"

"Could be worse," I shrugged. My friends gave me a look, and I tried not to think about the blowing-up-the-bus incident. "Um, so, what's happening with the campers?"

Suddenly, a big SUV pulled into the stall next to us, its hip hop turned up to full bass. It was so loud it shook the pavement.

"Chiron had to- what the Hades is that?" Max asked, frowning.

"We'll take care of it," Luke said. He put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Come on, Annie."

Luke handed me the spray gun, and he and Annabeth ran off to deal with the SUV. I readjusted the nozzle, keeping the image of Max there.

"Trashy music," I sighed. "Hip hop is the worst. Anyway, what were you saying?"

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Max yelled over the music. "It's going crazy, Thalia. We're all taking sides: Zeus vs Poseidon. It's the Trojan War all over again! My cabin has gone with Poseidon - though I tried to convince them otherwise." He shrugged. Meanwhile, I heard Luke and some other guy yelling at each other, and the music decreased drastically.

"Disappointed," I shook my head. I gave Max a brief summary of everything that happened. It was good talk to him. Don't get me wrong, I love Luke and Annabeth, but I needed a break from them as well every now and again. Plus, it felt like… seeing home after a while. I'd been on the run for a good chunk of my life. Camp Half Blood had been a place where I finally felt… at home. Running around was, of course, amazing - the best years of my life, in fact, but I'd always wanted a real  _home_. A place where I could feel stable.

"So Hades is the lightning thief, huh?" Max raised his brow. "Now  _that's_ a plot twist. We're all about Zeus vs Poseidon here and  _he_ was the one who stole the bolt?" He frowned. "Well, it does kind of make sense. He does have that invisibility cap thing or whatever. I saw it at the solstice." He then tilted his head. "But at the same time… Gods can't take each other's weapons. Is there anyone else that can turn invisible? I mean, like, aside from that stunt you pulled."

I found myself reaching for the Yankees cap. A gift from Annabeth.

"I guess he just got lucky," I said. I frowned. I hoped people wouldn't find out about the hat. Because then they wouldn't only blame  _me_ , they'd blame Annabeth, too. And I didn't want Annie to go through anything horrible ever again.

But in the end, it was all Luke's fault. Yet, I still loved him.

In the stall next door, a man screamed and the SUV backed up, skidding away.

"Sounds troubling," Max whistled. "You should check that out, Thalia."

I nodded. "See ya, Max. Tell Chiron all that happened. Okay?"

Max nodded. He became flustered. "See ya. And. Um. Take, uh, care. I guess."

I rolled my eyes. I turned off the spray gun, and hung it back on the wall. I couldn't get rid of the ache in my chest.

"Thalia?" Luke asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. Annabeth was next to him, giving me a concerned look.

"I'm hungry," I said. "Let's find a diner."

* * *

We got lucky and managed to find a diner pretty quickly. All around us, families were drinking malt shakes and chowing down on burgers.

Needless to say, I was insanely jealous.

"Maybe I can slide in the kitchen and steal something," Luke suggested, as we looked at our sad amount of money.

"Will the Mist work?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm not sure how I feel about manipulating mortals to give us free food," I said. "We can try and convince them we're homeless kids. That might work."

"Or they'll kick us out." Annabeth muttered.

I was about to reply, but then, all of a sudden, the biggest motorbike I'd ever seen pulled up to the curb. It was covered in bright red flames, and there was a shotgun holster attached to the side. The seat was leather… at least, I hoped it was. It sort of looked like Caucasian human skin. The red headlight almost blinded me.

The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. His muscle shirt was red, accompanied by black jeans and a black leather duster (his fashion sense wasn't so bad, honestly). A large hunting knife was attached to his thigh, and red wraparound shades covered his face. He was handsome in the way you'd describe a huge person - scary, but sexy. Not that I thought he was hot. His face was brutal, covered in scars, like he'd been in many fights. I recognised almost as soon as I saw him.

Ares, the god of war.

As Ares walked into the diner, people stopped and stared. The air was hot and dry, despite the cold, like it was preparing for some wild west scenario. The god waved his hand, and everyone went back to their conversations.

"I've got it covered," he said, sliding into our booth, and squishing poor Annabeth against the window. Luke had gone pale. A waitress came over to us, acting slightly robotic. She was staring at Ares with wide eyes. He waved his hand at her, and she zoomed off, headed to the kitchen. Ares stared at me, and I immediately felt like punching him in the face. He had that same fiery glare Max had, but like I said before, lacked everything that made him a good friend.

"Lord Ares," I forced myself to stay calm. Getting angry at the gods does not do you any favours. "What brings you here?"

Ares adjusted his shades. He glanced at Luke, who was looking at his feet. "Well, little sis, I heard you and your buddies were in town. I got a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" I asked. Luke's eyes were full of fear. He looked like he'd been stabbed.

The waitress came back, carrying trays full of food - cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, chocolate shakes. The food momentarily distracted me from Ares' vibe pissing me off. The god handed her some golden drachmas. The waitress looked like she was going to protest, but Ares had pulled out his hunting knife and begun cleaning his fingernails. She walked off.

"Classy," I said, sneering at my burger.

"Says the one in a world of trouble," Ares said. "You've got a lot of enemies at the moment, punk. Pretty dangerous place for you. Which brings me to my proposition."

"I don't think we have time to do any favours," Luke spoke up, his voice cracked.

Ares waved his hand. "Oh, I'm sure you do, Luke Castellan. 7 days. Plenty of time." He turned back to me. "I left my shield at an abandoned waterpark here in town. I was going on a little… date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

I wanted to tell him to go and get it himself, but I held my tongue.

"We've already got a quest," Luke retorted.

"I already know about your quest, punk," Ares said, giving Luke a strange look. "Zeus sent out his best searching for it. I couldn't find it." He looked away, making Luke go even more pale. I reached my hand under the table and grabbed his. "And if  _I_ can't find it, you kids got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Old Seaweed and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?" I asked.

"Sure," Ares said. "Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognised it immediately. In a way, you have me to thank for your little quest."

Now  _I_  glanced at Luke. He really did not look like he wanted to be there.

"Just do my job, and I'll help you punks on your way," Ares said.

"You can arrange a ride west for us?" I asked. "Food?"

"We're fine," Luke insisted. "We can handle ourselves. We've done it before."

"Yeah, right," Ares snorted. "You have no idea what you're up against. I heard that you three were on the run for a while, but you ain't invincible. You should take what's given to you."

Luke stared at his hands. I bit my lip.

"Where's the water park?" I asked.

"A mile west of Delancey," Ares answered. "You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

"Right," I said. I stood up. "We should get going, then."

"That's the spirit," Ares smiled. Evilly. "I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

He disappeared. I blinked, and wondered if the whole chat was a dream. I glanced out the window, and saw his bike had disappeared as well. I felt my whole body relax, and the anger seep out of me.

"You shouldn't have agreed to that," Luke said.

"What else was I supposed to do?" I snapped. "He's a god, Luke. You know how well defying the gods goes."

"She's right," Annabeth agreed. "We didn't have a choice."

"You don't understand," Luke said. He looked at me, more pale and broken than ever. He came up to me, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Do you remember our…  _little chat…_ and I mentioned a god I made a deal with? The one that took the you-know-what?"

"Yeah?" I hissed back. "What about it?"

"Well…" Luke stared at his shoes. "He's that god."

I tensed up, and stupidly said, "Oh."

"He'll try to trick us, one way or another," Luke said. "Which is why we can't accept anything he gives us."

"What are you guys talking about?" Annabeth asked. Luke and I glanced at each other.

"Uh," I said. "Um… romantic stuff."

Annabeth frowned, suspiciously.

"We don't have to accept anything he gives us, then," I muttered back. "Like you said, we can get around these things. We've done it before."

Luke nodded. "I hope."


	12. Annabeth (almost) conquers the spiders

Sunset was approaching, but we'd managed to find the waterpark. It was a hot mess. The old sign probably once read 'Waterland', but now it only read 'Wat r a d'.

The main gate was covered in barbed wire and locked with a padlock. Inside, huge, dry water-slides, as well as tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around. It was almost like a graveyard for a waterpark. Not an ideal place to a take a date, in my opinion.

"I mean, I'm not one to judge," Luke said, "but there's no way I'd take my date here."

He winked at me. My heart pounded. I hated how well he could read me sometimes.

"That's gods for you," I said, with shaky laughter. "Come on. Let's clear out this dump."

Luke put on his sandals. He held out his hands. "Grab on, ladies."

Unfortunately, it was too heavy for all three of us, so I let Annabeth go with Luke and simply jumped the fence myself. I didn't mind getting rips in my clothes - it saved me having to run over them with a stolen lawn-mower.

We walked through the park, observing all the shadows and abandoned rides. It was quiet. Too quiet. It was kind of eerie. We found a souvenir shop, full of fridge magnets, brochures, and…

"Fresh clothes!" we all yelled.

Soon, we were all dressed in Waterland flower-print shorts, big, red Waterland t-shirts, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. I never thought I'd get the chance to dress up as a walking advertisement for an abandoned theme park. Amazing, right? Luke had a Waterland backpack over his shoulder, stuffed with more goodies. We continued our trek around the  _lovely_ , desolate park.

"So," I said, after a bit of silence. "The gossip between Ares and Aphrodite still hasn't ended, huh?"

"It's 3000 years old gossip, Thals," Luke said. "Chances are, it never will."

I rolled my eyes. "Couples gossip. Is there anything more boring?"

"I think that's somewhere where they'd go on a date," Annabeth interrupted.

Ahead of us was a large, empty swimming pool shaped like a bowl. On the rim were a ton of bronze Cupid statues, wings spread and bows ready to fire. A tunnel was on the side, presumably where the water went when the pool was full. A sign above it read:  _THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!_

"Look over there," Annabeth said. She was staring at a pink and white two-seater boat sitting at the bottom of the pool, completed with a canopy covered in hearts. Just the sight of made me want to retch. The row of mirrors didn't help, since it gave me a better view.

"The shield," Luke said. I forced myself to stare at the boat again. And yes, indeed, a polished circle of bronze glimmered from one of the seats.

"Seems way too easy," I said.

Luke took off his surf shoes and put his flying sandals back on. "I'll fly over there and get it. You guys have got my back, right?"

I nodded. Annabeth gave him a thumbs up. Luke took off, flying towards the shield. Annabeth and I kept a steady distance behind him, following the rim. I noticed she was staring at the statues with suspicion.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"There's a Greek letter on the statues," she said, furrowing her brow. "Eta. I wonder…"

I turned to Luke, who was staring at a long, pink scarf with admiration. I felt pricks of anger.  _Love_  magic.

"Hey, Luke!" I yelled, running over to him. I threw one of his surf shoes at his head. "You aren't cheating on me with a scarf, are you?"

Luke blushed, looking up at me. "Of course not!"

I let out a laugh. "Just get the shield."

Luke reached out for the shield.

"Wait," Annabeth cried, holding out her hand, "don't-"

Luke grabbed the shield. A cobweb was on his hand, but something about it was off. A flash of gold glittered inside it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Luke, you have to get out of there," Annabeth yelled. "It's a trap!"

And, to prove her point, gears began grinding, like a giant machine was activating.

"Get out," I told Luke. He nodded, slipped the shield under his arm, and took off. As he did, the Cupids began aiming. But not at us. At… each other? Their arrows released, making a giant, silky, golden asterisk. The smaller metallic threads began to weave together between the big strands.

Luke made it out. "Let's get out of here."

We turned away to leave.

"Wait!" Annabeth shouted. She pointed to the inside of the pool. In there was my invisibility cap.

"Forget it," I told her. "We have to go."

"No!" Annabeth yelled, her voice cracking. She stared up at me with an urgency in her eyes. It was the same kind of energy she gave off when we were at the Arch, but it was full of panic instead of joy. "We have to get it back!"

Before Luke or I could say anything, Annabeth jumped into the pool.

"Annabeth!" I yelled. Luke grabbed my arm.

"I'll get her," he said. "Take this."

He handed me Ares' shield.

"I'm not leaving you," I growled, putting the shield down. "We're getting her together."

The Cupids' heads popped open, revealing cameras. Spotlights appeared, forcing me to cover my eyes.

A loudspeaker voice boomed, " _Live to Olympus in one minute… fifty nine, fifty eight…_ "

Luke smiled at me, but it was a pitiful smile. "You are too stubborn, Thalia."

"Got it!" Annabeth yelled, holding up the hat. Her figure had a layer of gold covering it. "Help me out!"

Suddenly, the row of mirrors opened, revealing small, metallic… spiders?

Annabeth began screaming.

"Oh gods," I cursed, "Athena's kids hate spiders, don't they?"

"This trap was meant for Aphrodite and Ares," Luke gritted his teeth, eyes full of panic. "Hephaestus set it up. Ares led us here."

I ran over to Annabeth. She had gone completely pale and still. I pulled out my spear and ripped a hole in the net.

"Grab on, Annie!" I yelled.

Annabeth grabbed onto my spear, and I pulled up. Luke helped, and we dragged her up. The robotic spiders spread thread around her legs, causing her to scream even more.

The net was so stubborn. It wouldn't let her go. I cut more of it away with my spear.

_"Thirty, twenty-nine…"_

I yelled out, and dragged her up. She crashed into me, and I crashed into Luke, like a domino effect. I kicked off some of the spiders, as Annabeth screamed into my shirt.

"Spiders..." she kept muttering. I sighed, ruffling her hair. I couldn't stay mad at Annie for long. She was just too adorable!

That wasn't the case for a certain someone else.

"I think we need to have a little chat to Ares," I growled.

* * *

The war god was waiting for us back at the parking lot.

"Well, well, sis," he chuckled. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap." I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

Ares gave me a wicked grin, that, surprisingly, did remind me of Max Badmil. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of kids, who  _escaped_."

I was about to tell him to get a life, but Luke shook his head at me.

I held out his shield instead. "Where's the ride and the food?"

Ares accepted the shield, spinning it in the air like pizza dough. It melted and transformed into a bullet-proof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" he asked, pointing to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A, with one stop in Vegas."

The truck had a black sign with large, white print, which was the only reason I could read it with gods-dammed stupid Dyslexia:  _KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS_

It was so stupid I was at a loss for words. Ares snapped his fingers, and the back door of the truck unlatched. He then tossed me a nylon blue bag. "And here's the food I promised you."

Inside were fresh clothes, twenty mortal dollars, a pouch of golden drachmas, and some Double Stuf Oreos.

 _Fulfilling meal_ , I thought angrily. Luke gave me a look. I nodded. No way were we keeping this stuff, as tempting as it was.

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Annabeth said, obviously trying to stay calm as well. My body was tense. I glanced at the diner, which only had a few people in it now. The waitress from before was staring at me. She then got her friend, a cook, I assumed, who stared at me with wide eyes and took a picture of me.

 _Fantastic,_  I thought.  _Now they'll all think I'm a criminal._

"Let's go," I sighed. We headed over to the truck, avoiding the truckers having a nice old chat outside it. Luke dumped the nylon bag in the bushes. You might think that's a waste, but maybe a homeless person would find it. And plus, we weren't taking anything from Ares.

The truck was pretty disgusting - it smelled like the world's largest pan of kitty litter. It was completely dark in there, until Luke whipped out a mini flashlight from his back pocket.

"Stole this from the Dollar Tree," he told me. "Forgot I'd had it until now."

He pointed the flashlight at the saddest excuse for zoo animals I'd ever seen. Sitting in a row of filthy cages were the three smelly animals: a male albino lion, a zebra, and an antelope (or something like it).

The lion had some turnips before him, which was just plain stupid. The zebra and the antelope had gotten a styrofoam tray of burger meat, which was even more stupid. You really didn't need to be a zoologist to understand how sad it was. The zebra's mane was covered in chewing gum, like someone had been spitting on it. The antelope had some stupid silver birthday balloon attached to one of its horns that read  _OVER THE HILL!_

The lion was growling and pacing around, flies flying around his pink eyes, and sweat in his fur. I could count the ribs sticking out of him. I clenched my fists.

"Grover would be so mad if he saw this," I growled. "I'm gonna go teach those stupid truckers a lesson on his behalf."

I was about to get up, but the engine started, and I fell over. I muttered some curse words in both Ancient Greek and English.

The truck got on the road, and already I knew the journey was going to be a mess. It was hot and stinky, and I was 110% done with those flies. However, we did manage to swap the animals' food around, actually giving them something to eat. The thought of food made me hungry. I wondered if we should've kept the Double Stuf Oreos after all.

After cutting off the balloon on the antelope's horn, I tried to sleep. It was uncomfortable, but I'd slept on worse. Annabeth appeared next to me, and gave me the invisibility cap.

"Sorry about, um, jumping in after it," she said. "It's just… this hat is really special."

"I'm more worried about you than a stupid hat, Annie," I laughed. "And besides. It was pretty brave of you to be around spiders."

Annabeth tensed up. "I guess…"

"You're getting braver all the time, y'know," I said. "No need to be sad, okay? We're going to survive and come out as heroes."

Annabeth smiled. "Thanks, Thalia."

"You'll be a great architect, and I..." I lost my words. I tried to ignore the small well of hopelessness in the pit of my stomach. "I don't know. I'll do something."

"You'll be the greatest hero to ever live," Annabeth said, her eyes twinkling with admiration.

I blushed, and ruffled her hair again. She giggled, adorably as ever. I wondered how her family could've mistreated her so badly. But... after a bit of thinking, it wasn't so hard to believe. My mother had been just the same. So had Luke's.

That's why we demigods had each other, after all!

I tried to go back to sleep. I stared at Luke, thankful that I talked him out of resurrecting Kronos.

_Kronos…_

"G'night, Annie," I told her, trying to distract myself.

"Night," Annabeth said, but she didn't sound very tired. I sighed. I could see what Luke meant about the gods toying with us. To them, we were just mortals, chess pieces, you name it. A tear almost escaped my eyes.

 _For the mortals_ , I told myself.  _For Camp._


	13. We go to the worst casino ever

There's not much worse than a demigod dream.

It started off simple: Luke, Annabeth and I were sitting around a campfire. It was nice at first, peaceful. Just like the old days.

Then, suddenly, things took a weird turn.

Max appeared, and began chanting in Ancient Greek. A boy around Annabeth's age was there too. He had black hair and sea-green eyes. I knew I'd seen him before, somewhere.

The fire grew and grew, changing colour. Luke and Annabeth had gone completely still, like statues. The fire went from a bright orange to a deep red, then black. The ground began burning away like paper. Monsters came out of the fire. I felt a roaring rage overcome me, greater than the fire.

 _I'll bring my father justice,_  I thought.  _The bolt will be returned!_

I suddenly fell backwards into a dark abyss. I began screaming, wishing Zephyros or someone was there. I tried to control the wind, but nothing worked. I landed in a dark cavern, the dead drifting around like mist. I could hear Kronos speaking.

 _Traitor_ , he said.  _A useless minion. I should kill you._

 _Please, don't!_ A voice begged. My heart thumped. It was Luke _. I need to be with her. She doesn't understand. I-_

 _Useless_ , Kronos repeated.  _You will regret what you've done, mortal._

 _No_ , Luke whimpered.

 _You_ ,  _on the other hand,_  Kronos turned his voice to someone else.  _Does she suspect anything?_

A voice giggled. It sounded young.  _Of course not. She's a fool._

 _Good_ , Kronos said. He sounded stern.  _However, you almost lost one of the items. I will not tolerate another failure from you._

 _I understand,_ the young voice said.

 _No,_ Luke repeated.

Kronos ignored him. _As soon as both items are delivered… wait. She is here._

 _You summoned her, my lord?_  The younger one asked.

 _No._ The full force of the Titan's attention was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. _Blast her father's blood - she is too stubborn, too determined. The girl brought herself hither._

 _Of course_ , the young one said. _I wouldn't expect anything else from her._

Kronos turned his cold power towards me.  _So... you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige._

The scene changed.

I was in a vast throne with bronze floors and black, marble walls. Ahead of me was a throne made of fused human bone. It was empty. A woman was standing before the throne, her arms open wide.

My mother.

I screamed, feeling my flesh melting off my bones. Skeletons in Greek armour danced around me, putting laurels on my hair, and covering me with silk robes. The laurels where covered with Chimera poison, and burned into my scalp.

Kronos began to laugh.  _Hail, the conquering hero!_

I woke up, chest heaving. I was lying on the backpack Ares gave us. I clenched my fists.

"Stubborn," I muttered.

"The truck's stopped," Luke said. He looked totally fine, as if he'd never been in the dream. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.

I got the easy way out. I slipped on my cap, and turned invisible. I dragged the bag with me so the truckers wouldn't see it. Luke and Annabeth jumped behind the feed stacks, pretending to be turnips, I guess.

The trailer door opened. The sun made me flinch.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his stupid ugly face. "I wished I hauled appliances." He climbed inside, pouring water into the lion's bowl.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked, then splashed the rest of the water on the lion's face. My nails dug into my palms. The lion roared in indignation.

"How ya doin', Stripes?" the trucker asked, after giving the antelope a squashed Happy Meal bag. "Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

If the zebra were human, it probably would've cried. Then there was a loud knock on the side of the trailer.

The trucker inside yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

Eddie - the outside one - shouted, "Maurice? What'd you say?"

"What are you banging for?" Maurice snapped.

The knocking got louder.

"What banging?" Eddie yelled.

Maurice rolled his eyes and went outside, yelling at Eddie for being an idiot. Annabeth crawled out from beneath the turnips. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer.

"This transport business can't be legal," she said.

"Definitely not," Luke agreed. "I was doing some…  _investigating_  and found a lot of forged documents. These guys are definitely animal smugglers."

"Then let's get them out of here," I declared. I knew Grover would be proud. I charged up my spear with some electricity, and sawed off the zebra's lock. It burst out of the cage, jumping over a very-surprised Maurice's head. It ran down the streets.

"Get back here!" Eddie yelled. He and Maurice chased after the zebra.

"Hey! You need a permit for that!" some policemen yelled, chasing after the truckers.

"Now the other ones," I said. I released the other animals, and they took off into the streets. Some people screamed, while others took pictures.

"Remind me to IM Grover later," I said, "so he can give those animals a satyr blessing."

"Will do," Luke said. He stretched. "Now, come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

We stumbled out into the chilly rain. Thank gods it was winter, or else it would be stinking hot. Luckily no one paid us any attention - the animals won in that department. With that, I dumped Ares' stupid backpack into a river, hoping it wouldn't come back.

We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and a mini version of the Statue of Liberty.

I wasn't exactly sure what we were looking for. Food? A place to stay?

We were drawn to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge, neon flower, the petals flashing. The glittery doors glowed, opening and closing. It smelled like lotus flowers (I'm assuming, I've never smelled them), and inside, I could see vases full of said flowers. Heat and warmth stretched out, and I could feel it through my jacket.

Safe to say, this place was setting off  _all_  my alarm bells.

The doorman smiled at us, his tone kind. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

I looked at my friends.

"I don't trust this," I whispered. "Definitely dodgy."

"Totally," Annabeth agreed.

"Well, there's nowhere else we can go," Luke replied, wiping his eyes. Only then I realised he didn't look like he got much sleep. "Let's just go in and… see what's it like."

"Fine," I sighed. I turned back to the doorman. Nothing seemed... off about him. "Okay, we'll come inside."

And inside was amazing. The whole lobby was a giant game room. It definitely wasn't your average crappy arcade with 2-cent games. A glass water-slide wrapped around a glass elevator, that went up forty floors (ugh, it didn't make me very comfortable). There were virtual reality suits with working guns, hundreds of video games, all on huge flat-screens, and snack bars everywhere. Because it was Christmas, there were inflatable Santas and Snowmen holding out trays of candy-canes. A giant Christmas tree was nearby the glass elevator. My heart clenched. I'd completely forgot about Christmas. Well, it was too late to go Christmas shopping. There were a few kids there, but not many. No waiting.

"Hey!" a bellhop said. He looked more like Poseidon than a bellhop - same floral t-shirt and khaki shorts. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

"But… we don't have any money," Annabeth said.

The bellhop waved his hand. "Don't worry! The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or what-ever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed us each a plastic green card. I stared at it. This was ridiculous. Did he think we were a millionaire's kids?

"How much is on here?" Luke asked, staring at the card in wonder.

The bellhop's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

Luke frowned. "I mean, when does it run out of cash?"

The bellhop laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."

He walked away.

"This is definitely a trap," Annabeth said. "We should go."

"I agree," I nodded. "Right, Luke?" I turned beside me, but Luke wasn't there. "Luke?"

Luke had wandered over to a game, his face covered in awe. It was the same kind of face he made when he was holding Aphrodite's scarf.

"Luke," I said, grabbing his arm. "We're leaving."

"Can't we at least grab some food?" Luke asked, annoyed. "Or clothes?"

"No," I insisted. "Luke, we have to go."

The smell of food was inviting, and I was so tempted to stay. But I fought it with every ounce of me I had. I wasn't falling for another trap.

"Think about it, Thalia," Luke said. "We could stay here forever. We'd never be in any danger. We'd have everything we could ever want - food, video games, TV…"

"Why are you acting like this?" I snapped. "We have a quest to complete, Luke. We have to get the bolt back. We have to stop World War 3."

Luke gritted his teeth. "You'd rather be a pawn of the gods?"

I slapped him. He blinked, rubbing the red mark on his face. Then I kissed him on the cheek; he went even redder. We stared into each other's eyes.

"You're right," he sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "This place is getting to my head."

I nodded. "That's my Luke." I turned around. "Annabeth?"

Annabeth was staring at some kids with dark hair and olive skin. One of them, who looked around her age, was holding some trading cards. Something was strange about them, but I couldn't tell what. I shook it off.

"Come on, Annie," I grabbed her arm. "Let's go."

"Right," Annabeth said, shaking her head. We headed towards the entrance, when the bellhop stood in our way, holding up some new cards.

"Leaving already?" he asked. "You haven't even tried anything! What about-"

"Get lost," I snapped, storming forward, my hands on my friends' arms. I focused on moving forward, ignoring everything else - which was annoyingly hard with my ADHD. The scent of food got more inviting, and the thought of all those cool games was trying to lure me back…

Then we burst out of the casino, racing down the sidewalk, almost falling over because of the icy path. It was afternoon, the same time we'd gone in. The wind was howling and rain stabbed my face like mini spears. Ares' backpack was slung over my shoulder. I was pissed, but I decided to deal with it later.

"Look, guys," Annabeth said, holding up a newspaper. She sounded scared.

It was December 29th. Two days to complete the quest.


	14. We visit the waterbed emporium

It was Annabeth's idea. She's one crazy seven year old, as you can tell.

We climbed into the back of a Las Vegas taxi as if we were loaded. The cabbie stared at us sceptically.

"I got this," Annabeth told us quietly. She cleared her throat. "Los Angeles, please."

"That's 300 miles," the cabbie said. "For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.

He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."

Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card. "Try this."

The cabbie did. The meter machine whirred and lit up. An infinity design appeared beside the dollar sign.

The cabbie went pale. "Uh… where in Los Angeles do you want to go… Your Highness?"

A smirk appeared on Annabeth's face. Seriously, this kid was merciless. "West Hollywood."

The journey was going to take a while, obviously, so we had plenty of time to talk. I told my friends about my dream. Luke went pale, while Annabeth… seemed oddly calm.

"There was this young voice," I said. "I know who it is… I just can't put my finger on it."

Annabeth tilted her head. "Maybe it was a god? One of the younger ones?"

"A god…" I repeated, slowly. "Or maybe… a  _demigod_."

"That would mean there's a traitor at camp," Annabeth said, grimly. "Or… hmm, you also said there was some kid with sea-green eyes there, right? What if he's the one you're looking for?"

"I don't know," I said. "I've never seen him before."

"Wasn't there some kid with sea-green eyes at the bus stop, ages ago?" Annabeth asked. Then I remembered! That's right, there had been a kid around Annabeth's age at the bus stop. He was the one staring at my shield who got dragged away by his mother.

"There was," I said, breathlessly. "Who is he?" I turned to Luke. "You know anything about him, Luke?"

I stared at him with sincerity. He went even more pale.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I…" He shook his head, blinking. "Can we… talk about something else?"

"Alright," I said, understanding. I turned back to Annabeth. "You're getting really smart, huh, Annie?"

"I… did a lot of reading," Annabeth replied, "while I was at camp. I learnt a lot."

"Seriously," I shook my head. "I mean, you were smart in the past, but now, you're even smarter. I'm so proud! You'll easily get into Harvard, I bet."

"Yeah," Annabeth said, but she wasn't smiling, strangely. "I'm going to be an architect."

"And you'll be the best architect the world's ever seen," I said, patting her shoulder. "Trust me."

She gave me a half-hearted smile. Something seemed to be bothering her.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Fine," she said. "Just… tired."

I wanted to ask more, but she turned away, leaning against the window. Her eyes shut tightly. I fiddled nervously with my badges. Something was going on with her. Something had changed. And I had to find out what.

* * *

At sunset, the taxi dropped us off at west Hollywood. I still had Ares' backpack. I sighed - we had no chance of getting rid of it, so we had to keep it. Ares had caught us in some kind of trap. I hoped we'd be able to get out of it.

We spent a lot of time looking around for DOA Recording Studios, aka the entrance to the Underworld, but no one seemed to know where it was. A few people almost recognised me as well, which was somehow both flattering and creepy.

We walked past a TV screen in a shop window, where there were a bunch of people sitting in a circle, screaming about 'the fallen girl'. The news reporter was yelling into the mic.

"Thanks Jeremy, I'm reporting live from the cult of 'the fallen girl', who is believed to be descended from God," she said. "These people are worshipping her, believing she will come to save them. The fallen girl was last seen outside a diner with another young girl and a teenage boy, talking to a strange man." The TV showed a grainy picture of us talking to Ares.

"There's... a cult about me?" I asked, bewildered.

"Apparently," Luke said. He laughed. "Congrats, Thalia. They think you're a god!"

"They're only half-right," I said, and found myself smiling. "Good to know those people have a great taste in religion!"

Luke rolled his eyes. Annabeth giggled.

We kept walking. As it got darker, some interesting characters began appearing. Muggers and the like were staring at us, so I glared straight back at them. My glare is pretty intimidating, so the smarter ones backed off.

Unfortunately, not all were that smart. A group of muggers surrounded us, all wearing expensive clothing.

"Back off," I growled. I wasn't scared of a few mortals. After you've been fighting monsters for two years, mortals aren't really that scary.

"Make us," the gang-leader said. I was about to attack him, but Luke grabbed my arm.

"Forget them," he said. "Let's just run."

I wanted to kick that idiot's butt, but fighting mortals wasn't going to do us any good. Annabeth gave me the puppy-dog eyes, which I couldn't resist.

So we bolted. We shoved some of the kids out of the way, and ran like the wind. We zoomed around a corner, until we reached a store. The store's logo was in bright neon, so I could barely read it. Something to do with beds. It didn't matter. We headed inside, escaping the gang kids.

"Lost 'em," I panted.

"Lost who?" a voice boomed.

I almost shocked Luke out of surprise.

A guy was standing behind us. He was bald, and extremely tall. He was wearing a nice suit, but had a cold smile, and thick lids covering his eyes. He looked like he came out of the seventies, what with his neck covered in gold chains. His shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his chest. The lapels on his leather jacket were huge.

"Hi," I said, biting my lip. "Who are you?"

"I'm Crusty," he said.

"He sure is," Luke muttered. I almost burst out laughing.

"Sorry to bother you," Annabeth said, standing up. "We were just about to leave."

"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," Crusty grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?"

Annabeth looked like she was about to say no, but Crusty was already ushering us into the showroom. In there was every size of waterbed in possibly the entire universe: king, queen, god, Thalia, you name it.

"That's a lot of beds," Luke whistled. "Impressive."

"Why thank you," Crusty gave us a gleaming yellow smile. He gestured to a bed with a black satin sheets, lava-lamps built into the bedhead, and a vibrating mattress that reminded me of Jello. "This is my most popular model. Million-hand massage. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, any-way."

"Um…" Annabeth said. She lowered her voice. "Guys, I don't trust this. We should go."

"Annabeth's been right about everything so far," Luke agreed. "We should."

I stared at Annabeth. I trusted her, but Luke's comment gave me some food for thought.

"How do you know we  _can't_  trust him?" I asked her. "In fact… how've you known about all the monsters we've encountered?"

Annabeth furrowed her brow. "I did my research."

"But no one's  _that_ smart," I said, frowning. "Not even you."

Annabeth looked hurt.

I felt my heart ache. "No, what I mean is-"

"Have a look at this one, dear!" Crusty interrupted me, directing Annabeth over to the Safari Deluxe model. Lions were carved in teak-wood bedhead. A leopard-patterned comforter sat on top. When Annabeth didn't want to lie down, Crusty pushed her.

"Hey!" she shouted.

"Ergo!" Crusty snapped his fingers.

Roses sprang up from the sides of the bed. They wrapped around Annabeth, forcing her onto the bed.

"Annie!" I shouted. I glared at Crusty, electricity dancing across my fingertips. "Let her go!"

"Oh, I will," Crusty said. "I just have to find a bed for you and your boyfriend first."

He walked over to Luke and I and grabbed our arms. We tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron.

"A bed for a sweet couple," he said. "Perfect."

He showed us to a double-bed with a red, slik canopy, and a pink bedhead. The pillows were a variety of pink and red hearts. The doona was made out of a black satin. And before I knew it, Crusty threw me onto the bed. Ropes wrapped around my body, almost squeezing the life out of me. I flailed around, but nothing happened.

"Luke!" I shouted.

Luke gave me the heart-fluttering wink. He turned to Crusty. "Whoa, buddy, she's not actually my girlfriend. She's my aunt."

"Huh, really?" Crusty asked, tilting his head.

"Mmm," Luke nodded. "So, anyway, what are you doing with all these ropes?"

"These are stretching jobs," Crusty said. He snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"

Ropes wrapped around my wrists and ankles. They began pulling me upwards. I screamed, feeling like they were going to come unattached. A burning pain raced along my arms. I screamed louder.

Crusty turned back to Luke, "Can't stand imperfect measurements. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"

"Sure thing, buddy, but just wondering, your real name's not Crusty, is it?" Luke asked, giving Crusty a calm smile. He seemed so casual - it was like Annabeth and I weren't even there. He didn't even seem to mind that Crusty had a very tight grip on his neck.

"Legally, it's Procrustes." Crusty admitted.

"Ah," Luke said. "The Stretcher." He nodded. "That's a great nickname for business. Got a nice ring to it."

"You really think so?" Crusty asked, eyes lit up.

"You know it," Luke grinned. He gestured to the beds. "And the craftsmanship on these beds? Incredible! Never seen anything better!"

Crusty waved it off. "You flatter me! I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. How many built-in Lava Lamp headboards have you seen?"

"Not many," Luke said.

"Luke!" I screamed. My arms felt like lava. Tears began building up in my eyes. "What are you doing?!"

Annabeth let out a cry.

"Don't mind them," Luke said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "They're impossible."

I bared my teeth past the pain. How could he act so  _calm_?

The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting."

"Must be so annoying, I can hardly imagine it!" Luke cried. "What do you do if they're longer than six feet?"

"Oh, that happens all the time," Crusty said. "It's a simple fix."

He briefly let Luke go, but a millisecond later he was wielding a huge double-bladed brass axe. "I just centre the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."

Luke nodded. I swear I saw him shiver for a moment. "Ah. Sensible!"

Everything was hurting for me. My vision had gone hazy, and Luke's voice was becoming more and more desolate, like he was disappearing.

"... this one really… dynamic stabilisers… wave motion?" I heard Luke's voice.

"... try…" Crusty's voice.

The talking became indescribable. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke lead Crusty over to a bed. It looked like they were having an argument. Crusty climbed onto the bed.

"Ergo!" I heard Luke yell. Crusty screamed out, trapped on the bed. Luke held up his knife, as Crusty tried pleading for his life.

I closed my eyes. Crusty had stopped pleading. A little while later, I felt Luke help me up. Annabeth was beside him.

"Idiot," I told him.

"Idiot that saved your life." he said, smirking. I sighed, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Look," Annabeth said, avoiding me.

I looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters -  _The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!_  Under that, a bright orange flyer for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls.  _We are always looking for new talent!_

DOA's address was right underneath with a map.

"Nice one, Annie," Luke said.

"Great," I sighed. "I was almost stretched to death!"

"Then you'll be ready for the Underworld," Luke said. "It's only a block from here."


	15. Annabeth the dog-trainer

We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble:  **DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.**

Let's just say I wanted to be anywhere but there.

Underneath, stencilled on the glass doors:  _NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERS. NO LIVING._

It was pretty late, which fit the mood. There were a ton of people hanging around outside, and the lobby was brightly lit. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

Luke turned to Annabeth and I, giving his charismatic grin. "Ladies, you know what to do."

We nodded. It was a little hard to be optimistic when we were literally entering the land of the dead, but I wasn't letting fear pull me down. And besides, if Luke, the true lightning thief, was confident, then so was I. Annabeth also had a stern expression on her face. I looked up, and we entered the DOA lobby.

Some trashy muzak played in the background. It was completely grey, with a few creepy catci shaped like skeleton hands sitting around in the corners. People either sat on black leather chairs, were standing, or waiting for the elevator. None of them really did anything, though I swore if I blinked twice, they were... transparent.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

He pretty much described 'posh': elegant, tall, wearing an expensive Italian suit. He had dark skin and hair that was bleached blond. A rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

"Good evening, Mr. Charon," Luke said, stepping forward. He brushed hair out of his eyes. "We'd like to go to the Underworld."

Charon's mouth twitched. "Well,  _that's_  refreshing. Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.'" He glanced over us. "How did you die, then?"

Luke wiped his eyes, which were full of fake tears. "It was so tragic. We committed a suicide pact!"

Charon made a face. "A suicide pact, eh?" He sighed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Luke said in a sugar-coated tone, placing some golden drachmas on the counter. He'd stolen them from Crusty's, naturally.

"Well, now..." Charon's eyes were full of hunger. He hovered his fingers greedily over the coins. "Real drachmas. Real  _golden_ drachmas. I haven't seen these in…"

I held my breath.

"No normal mortal would have these on them," Charon said, frowning. He leaned forward and took a sniff. "You aren't dead. You three are godlings, aren't you?"

"Perhaps," Luke said calmly, twirling a strand of hair between his fingers.

Charon growled, making me more scared than I'd like to admit. The dead began pacing around, agitated, checking their wristwatches. Some started smoking.

"Leave while you can," Charon told us. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."

Luke had that same relaxed expression he wore at Crusty's. He snatched back the drachmas.

"No service, no tip." he said.

Charon's growling grew deeper. The dead began pounding on the elevator doors. Annabeth had gone deathly still. I laid a hand on my spear.

Luke grabbed the full stash of drachmas from Crusty's, and began pulling them out, letting them fall through his fingers.

"Such a shame," he sighed. "We had so much more to offer."

Charon's growl became more like a purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling?" He went quiet. "Eh... just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"

Luke smiled. "Much more than I bet Hades pays you."

Charon rolled his eyes. "Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always  _please don't let me be dead_  or _please let me across for free_. I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"It must be awful," Luke said, his tone full of melancholy. "You deserve better. A good pay!"

With every word, Luke put another gold coin on the counter. I was seriously convinced he could charm just about anyone. My father's words came back to me: he believed I would be able to retrieve the bolt. And I would, with Luke's help. He might even be able to sway Hades.

Might.

But there was another factor:  _You will be forced to join a rival to save a friend._

We hadn't met that rival yet. Could it be…?

"Thalia?" Luke waved his hand in front of my face. "We're going."

I saw Charon walking towards an elevator. The three of us followed him. Luke kept his hand around mine; I felt warmth spread across my cheeks. It almost made me forget about all the dead trying to grab my clothes, their translucent hands cold like an icy breeze.

"Freeloaders," Charon grumbled, shooing them away.

We entered the elevator, which was already full of spirits, each holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby. Annabeth tensed up against me. Sometimes I forgot she was only a little kid.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," Charon announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors and placed a key card into a slot. We began to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

Annabeth frowned. "For how long?"

Charon shrugged. "Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said, staring at her hands. "That's... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"We'll get out alive," I insisted.

Charon smirked. "Ha."

The elevator then became like the one in  _Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator_ , but creepier and full of dead people. Spirits began changing shape. They went from wearing modern clothes to some creepy grey hoods. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

I shook my head. Charon's suit had been replaced by a long, black robe. His sunglasses were gone, replaced with hollow eye sockets that looked like black holes. I felt sweat drip down my cheek, like a tear.

"Well?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said, looking away.

I swear his flesh had gone transparent, and I could see through to his skull. The floor kept swaying, and my stomach began churning.

Then it stopped.

I blinked. The elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish… and other things: broken toys, graduation hats with cuts down the middle, soggy diplomas…

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across - hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

I stared into the river. Hopelessness trickled over me like a light shower. Ahead was green mist, the colour of poison. My arms shivered.

What was I doing here? These people around me…

I stared at my hand. Luke was still there. Annabeth was still there. I  _wasn't_  alone. I lifted my head. I was Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus! I could do anything. This stupid place wasn't going to drag me down.

Still, I muttered a small prayer to my dad. Not that it could help me. It was just force of habit.

The shoreline approached us. It was like the world's most depressing beach: craggy rocks, black sand which stretched inland, all the way to a high stone wall that put the Great Wall of China to shame. A howl echoed from somewhere. It sounded like a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

 _That's all this place is,_  a pessimistic voice muttered in my head.  _Bad luck._

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. I didn't pay them much attention, instead focusing on getting my friends out.

Charon said to Luke, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

He turned away, counting the golden coins. He ferried the empty barge across the river, humming some old 50's song.

We followed the spirits up a well-worn path.

I was honestly kind of underwhelmed. I was expecting some huge big entrance, like giant golden gates, or something crazy, but it just looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said  _YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS_. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were toll-booths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling continued. I frowned. It was Cerberus, Hades' guard dog, for sure. I wasn't extremely keen to meet him, that's for one. Usually I like dogs, but not  _that_  one.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were about as slow as traffic during peak hour.

According to my knowledge, the EZ DEATH went straight to the Fields of Asphodel. The other one was for people who wanted to be judged. Judging, of course, came with the risk that you could get punished for all eternity. On the other hand, it also meant you could go to Elysium, which was pretty much what some people would call Heaven. What about the Fields of Asphodel? Welp, it's essentially standing in a wheat field forever. Fun, right?

You might be asking,  _Thalia, why do you know so much about the Underworld?_

My friends, it's part of  _how to not die being a demigod_. The gods can take great offence to you not knowing certain things, trust me.

We saw some dodgy guy getting frisked by some black-robed ghouls. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd supposedly raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course. He'd died in a police chase when his 'Lamborghini for the Lord' went off a cliff.

"He's getting a special punishment for sure," I said. I'll admit, he deserved it. "What idiot, aside from a demigod escaping a monster, would drive their car off a cliff?"

"An idiot on ecstasy," Luke answered.

The annoying televangelist was also a preacher, so, say, he probably saw the Underworld a little differently from us. Us humans are stubborn - we see things the way we want to see them.

We kept moving. I saw a dark palace in the distance that looked like a inverted-colour version of Olympus. Hades' palace. The howling got louder, shaking the ground, yet I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

Then, about fifty feet in front of us, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster. It was like a chameleon, blending in and out of the colours of the background. Only the teeth and eyes were visible.

He was a rottweiler. Well, a rottweiler the size of a woolly mammoth and with 3 heads, of course. And mostly invisible. The EZ DEATH spirits walked under him, no fear at all.

"I'm starting to see him better," I muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think..." Annabeth had gone pale. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

The dog's middle head craned towards us. It sniffed the air and growled.

"Great," I said, hands shaking. "It can smell the living."

"We've got a plan, right?" Luke asked.

Annabeth's eyes lit up with that intense daughter-of-Athena intelligence. "We have a plan."

She stepped forward.

"Annie!" I hissed.

"I got this," Annabeth said. "Stay back."

Seriously, it was hard to remember that girl was so young.

The middle head snarled at her. I was about to storm over to her, but Annabeth held up her hand. She rifled through her bag, pulling out a red ball about as big as a grapefruit. She held it up in the air.

"See the ball?" she shouted. "You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were. All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth called again.

I was certain for sure she was dog food, but instead, Cerberus shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

"Good boy!" Annabeth said. She threw him the ball.

He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it." Annabeth ordered.

Cerberus' heads stopped fighting and stared at her, letting out a huge, scared whimper. He dropped the ball, which was slimy and nearly bitten in half. Annabeth picked up the ball, not seeming to mind the monster spit.

"Good boy," she said. She turned towards us. "Go now! EZ DEATH line - it's faster."

I said, "Annie-"

"Now." Annabeth said, in the same tone she'd used on the dog. I sighed. We were being bossed around by a little kid. The craziest and smartest little kid in existence.

Luke and I inched forward warily. Cerberus began to growl.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you, Annie?" Luke asked as we passed her.

"I know what I'm doing," she said, but I saw a glance of melancholy on her face. We walked through the monster's legs. Well, I ran. I was taking no chances.

We made it through. Cerberus wasn't any less scary-looking from the back.

Annabeth said, "Good dog!"

She held up the tattered red ball, and probably came to the same conclusion I did - if she rewarded Cerberus, there'd be nothing left for another trick. I found myself holding out my hand.

She threw the ball anyway. The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While the monster was distracted, Annabeth walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.

"You are the most amazing seven year old I've ever met," I said. "How do you do it?"

"Obedience school," she said breathlessly. There were tears in her eyes - they only appeared when she was talking about her family. "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman..."

"We can talk about that later," Luke interrupted. "Come on!"

We were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth stopped. She turned around and faced the dog. It had pulled a one-eighty and was staring at us.

"Good boy," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded sad and uncertain.

The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her.

"I'll bring you another ball soon," Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"

The monster whimpered. It sounded just as sad as Annabeth did.

"Good dog," Annabeth said, her voice clogging up. "I'll come visit you soon. I-I promise." She turned to us. "Let's go."

Luke and I pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights.

"Unauthorized possessions!" it screamed. "Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark.

Luke gave me the smile. "Let's run."

We burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

* * *

A few minutes later, we were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

"Nice job, you guys," I said, giving my friends a high-five. Annabeth still looked upset. She was glancing off into the distance, where I could hear Cerberus still whining. She'd had the same look on her face when she told us about how her father hadn't wanted her, how she'd been rejected by her family…

I stood up taller.

"But now it's my turn," I said. "I'll be the one that talks to Hades."


	16. Luke needs new shoes

Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.

Now imagine the field a million times that big, but it's literally the worst concert ever since there's no music or anything and everyone's depressed.

If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like.

The black grass looked just as depressing as everything else. A warm breeze ruffled my hair. Large, black trees - poplar trees - grew in clumps here and there. The ceiling looked sort of like the one in the Zeus cabin, except much darker, and there were a bunch of stalactites as well. I noticed several had fallen down. The sight of them didn't do my heart any favours.

My friends and I tried to blend in with the crowd, hiding from security ghouls. I looked at the dead, wondering if there were familiar faces. By that, I meant my brother. But the dead were hard to look at. Their faces shimmered, and they all looked a little angry or sad. I couldn't understand what they were saying - they just sounded like voiceless whispers.

The dead weren't scary. They were just sad.

We crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

_JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION_

_Welcome, Newly Deceased!_

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.

To the left was a rocky path, surrounded by guards, that led to the notorious Fields of Punishment. They glowed and smoked; a dark desert with a side of lava. Barbed wires separated the different areas of torture: there was everything from people being flayed alive to being forced to listen to opera music.

The line coming from the right side of the judgement pavilion was much better. This one led down towards a small valley surrounded by walls - a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. It was full of beautiful houses from every era, and tons of happy people. I could smell barbecue and hear laughter.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.

"That's what it's all about," Luke said, biting his lip. "That's the place for heroes."

I smiled, but the realisation dawned on me - there weren't that many in Elysium compared to the other two places. So few people did good in their lives. My smile shrunk.

I thought about Jason again. Somewhere in the Fields of Asphodel, all by himself. He couldn't talk to anyone. He was waiting for something, but nothing was ever going to come.

"Thalia?" Luke asked, concerned. I realised I was crying.

"Come on," I said hastily, wiping my eyes.

We left the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colours faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin. The thought of Jason kept occurring again and again. I covered my face with my leather jacket. It had a strange smell leaking out of it - probably monster blood.

After a few miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian - aka reverse colours Olympus. Above the parapets swirled three dark bat-like creatures: the Furies. I felt my arms drop to my sides. I didn't have any lightning down here.

Everyone told me Hades would kill me. And there was a chance he would, but I had to take that chance.

"Too late to turn back," Luke commented.

"Turning back is for wimps, anyway," I said. Luke touched my shoulder. I yelped and shocked him in surprise.

"Don't do that!" I scolded.

He shrugged. "Sorry. You just look worried."

"I'm not worried," I said, clenching my fists.

Luke gave me a smile. "Don't be. If all else fails, I've got a backup plan."

"A back-up plan?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you-"

Suddenly, Luke's shoes started freaking out. The wings on them flapped like crazy, and Luke face-palmed into the ground. He coughed, spitting out some dirt.

"Uh, Luke?" I asked. "What are you doing?"

"Oh Gods," Luke said, his face white as chalk. The wings began dragging him away. "I forgot about-"

He was interrupted as his face slammed into the ground again.

"Luke!" I yelled. "Turn them off!"

"I can't!" he shouted. "They're cursed!"

"What?" I asked.

Unfortunately, Luke was too busy sledding downhill like a bobsled to answer.

"Untie them!" Annabeth cried.

"Can't-" Luke panted, "Too fast!"

We chased after him as barrelled through spirits, who chittered at him with annoyance. I thought he was going to gatecrash Hades' palace, but instead he sharply veered to the right. He made a few more sharp turns. He tried to hold onto the gravel, but it didn't help.

"I'm so stupid," Luke cursed. "I forgot all about it!"

"About what?" I asked.

It was colder and darker down here. More  _evil_. My brain drifted to thoughts of the evilest side of humanity: murder, rape, betrayal... my skin crawled. The tunnel widened, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks. Ahead was a large dark chasm, the size of a city block.

The one I'd seen in my dreams.

"I cursed these shoes," Luke panted out, his voice croaking. "They drag the wearer down to Tartarus."

"What?!" Annabeth cried. "Why would you curse them?"

"It doesn't matter right now," I said, feeling an emptiness in my stomach. "What matters is saving him."

Annabeth and I approached Luke. I reached out, wrapping my arms around him. I fell over, landing on top of Luke. It probably looked very suggestive, so a blush crawled across my face. Luke shared the same expression. Then we remembered the whole Tartarus thing.

"Annie," I looked at Annabeth, "take the shoes off!"

Annabeth nodded. She ran over to Luke, forcefully ripping his shoes off. They both kicked her in the stomach (ouch), then flew down into the chasm.

We all collapsed, exhausted. My heart was pounding. Annabeth was holding her stomach, while Luke was covered in scratches and bruises. Blood trickled down his leg.

"Why?" I asked, after a silence.

Luke was about to answer, but he was interrupted by a strange noise.

A whisper in the darkness.

Annabeth stood. "Guys, this place..."

"We need to go," Luke finished, standing up. He faltered for a second, but regained his composure.

The whisper grew louder. I realised it was an evil voice, chanting.

"Come on," Luke insisted, grabbing my hand. He had Annabeth's hand too. My backpack suddenly felt heavy, and I felt something cold in there, too. Something dark. Sweat pooled down my cheeks.

We ran and ran, my backpack feeling like a ton of bricks. The voice chanted angrily, like it was upset we'd gotten away. I almost fell over. A little scream made its way out of my throat.

We'd almost been sucked in.

"What was that?" I breathed out. We were sitting beneath a glade of black poplars. Luke gave me a look, and suddenly I knew what was in that chasm. Sickness churned inside me. Luke put his hand on mine. It was icy cold.

"I think you two are hiding something from me," Annabeth said, tilting her head. "And not just romantic stuff. I think there's something else, too."

I glanced at Luke. He sighed.

"The truth is, Annie," he ran a hand through his hair, "Hades didn't steal the bolt." He lowered his voice to nothing higher than a whisper. "I did."

Annabeth gasped, stumbling back. "What?!"

"It's a long story, but…" Luke breathed out. "I… I've been working for…" He paused again. "The Crooked One."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You're…"

"I don't work for him anymore," Luke said, quickly. "Thalia convinced me to leave him."

"The Crooked One told you to steal the bolt, didn't he?" Annabeth asked, her voice croaking.

Luke nodded. "He wants to start a war between the gods. See, Annie, he's been waiting in Tartarus to rise for a long, long time."

"Why?" Annabeth asked. She rubbed her eyes, revealing tears. "Why would you betray us?"

Luke stared at his hands. "I wanted to get back at the Olympians. Ever since… ever since I spoke to my father… ever since that quest…"

Annabeth sniffled, staring at Luke with pain. "I can't believe you."

I wrapped my arms around Annabeth, pulling her close. "It's okay, Annie. He's on our side now. He wants to make up for what he's done."

Luke nodded in agreement. Annabeth kept sniffling. She sighed, and shook her head.

"Why did you curse the shoes, then?" she asked, her voice still cracking.

"I wasn't going to go on the quest, originally," Luke said. "I was hoping… Thalia would go. She would wear the shoes and be dragged down to…" He put his head in his hands, weeping.

"Those were for me?!" I snapped.

"I'm so sorry," Luke sobbed. His shoulders were shaking. He was usually so calm, so tough, so  _strong_. Now he was a total wreck. No. He'd  _always_  been a total wreck.

So I slapped him across the face.

"That's for the shoes," I said, as he touched his red cheeks. "Idiot."

I slapped him again.

"That's for almost dying," I said.

I slapped him one more time, causing him to shriek.

"And that's for causing this whole stupid mess!" I yelled. I fell to my knees, panting. I stared into his eyes, giving him a small smile. Then I kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me, trapping me in a warm embrace. Suddenly, the Underworld didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was the boy in my arms. My heart was pumping, and I could feel his tears on my cheek. Or were they mine? Nah, I wasn't a sobbing baby. Of course not.

Annabeth clapped, a big smile on her face. "Whoohoo! You finally did it!"

"I love you," I told Luke, pulling away for a moment. "Idiot."

"I love you too," Luke said, dreamily. "Idiot."

I slapped him again. "You stupid lightning thief."

"Lightning thief?" a snide voice asked.

I tensed at the sound of the voice, and I felt my arms drop.

Standing there was Alecto, a whip in hand. Her demon sisters were standing behind her, sneering evilly.

"Lord Hades will be very happy to hear we've found the thief," she cackled.

And without another word, my friends and I were teleported into the throne room of Hades, where the said god himself was glaring down at us, surrounded by an army of skeletons.


	17. My new boss wants me dead

Remember when I jumped off the Gateway Arch? And remember when I felt like I was going to die? Let's just say sitting in the throne room of Hades almost made me miss it.

Sitting on a throne of fused bones was the Lord of the Dead. He looked even more intimidating than he had at the council meeting - probably because now it was just him, and not all the other gods to distract me. He was around ten feet tall, dressed in black silk robes, and had a braided crown of gold. He had shoulder-length black hair and albino-white skin. His eyes were full of madness, not unlike those of Adolf Hitler, or Napoleon. He radiated an aura of power that made me want to sink to my knees and bow my head.

 _Snap out of it_ , I told myself, clenching my fists.  _You came this far._

The person sitting on the smaller, black, flower-like throne beside him gave me a little bit of hope.

She was a tall, young woman with a beautiful but deathly-pale face and long, dark hair that flowed around her as if it were weightless. Her eyes were multi-coloured but washed out, as if the Underworld had sapped her life force. Her dress billowed around her changing from white, to red, to many other colours. Faded yellow flowers bloomed in the fabric. I got the feeling during summer she would've been breathtakingly beautiful.

Unlike her husband, she smiled kindly at me, which made my heart slow down a little. I saw Luke give me a nod out of the corner of my eye.

"Lord Hades," I bowed, an edge of bitterness in my tone. "Lady Persephone."

"You are brave to come here, Daughter of Zeus," Hades said, in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

 _After what_ you've  _done to_ me _?_  I screamed in my head, electricity making my skin tingle.  _Look at what you've done to me!_

I brushed my hair out of my eyes. Anger had been building up inside me, and it got worse when I bowed. This guy had tried to kill me multiple times. He was the reason Annabeth had almost died. Maybe he didn't steal the stupid bolt, but I was still pissed.

My fists started trembling; the electricity continued building.

"I'm aware that you did not steal the lightning thief… uncle," I said. "I'm… not here to start a war. I came on this quest to settle a score and to find the true thief."

The room shook with a tremor so strong, all of LA probably felt it. Debris fell from the ceiling, and the skeleton army pointed their weapons at me.

Hades roared, "You do not want to start a war, and yet you have the audacity to not only bring the lightning thief here, but the bolt itself,  _and_  use my godly weapon?"

"Husband," Persephone said, raising her hand. "Please. They are  _children_."

"I do not care who they are!" Hades roared. "They will perish for their crimes!"

"Wait, hold up," I said. "What do you mean, the  _bolt itself_? And your godly weapon?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl," the god growled, towering to the height of a football goal post. "That  _boy_ ," he pointed at Luke, "may've stolen that heinous master bolt, but  _you_ were the one who stole my helm! Your father directed you to do such a thing to mock me. But now you both have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Zeus' thief, and I will have my helm back!"

"Husband, please," Persephone pleaded. "From what I've heard, she disappeared from the meeting before such a thing could've taken place."

Thank the gods Persephone was there, or I probably would've died.

"Nonsense," the god snapped. "It is possible. She is just acting innocent! Believing I want war. All war will do is create more problems for me. More security ghouls. Traffic problems at the judgement pavilion. Double overtime for the staff." He glared at me. "I used to be a rich god, Thalia Grace. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Your helm is missing too, Lord Hades?" Annabeth asked, timidly.

"You cannot fool me, girl," Hades snarled. "You have been working alongside these two fools. You were discussing your plan nearby my palace!"

I gritted my teeth. "I-I-"

"I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."

"I…" My voice was failing me. Luke looked inside the backpack - and I recognised my father's master bolt: a 2 foot long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy. Annabeth's Yankees cap also seemed to be glowing a strange black colour.

"It… it can't be…" I whispered, staring at it.

"Ares," Annabeth whispered, her face pale.

"Return my helm now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened. "That is my counter-proposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Thalia Grace - your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."

The skeletons took a step forward.

"Hades, we've talked about this!" Persephone said, louder. "You can't go around threatening every hero, at least without giving them a chance to justify themselves! Give them a chance to speak. Besides, the blonde boy looks like he wants to say something."

Hades glared at us. My nails dug into my skin, drawing blood. He turned back to Persephone.

"Speak, then, son of Hermes," he said, waving his hand in the air, "if you must."

Luke stepped forward. "I have a proposition for you, Lord Hades. As you know, I'm the lightning thief. But…" he stared at his shoes. "I also stole your helm."

"What?" I demanded. "You never told me about-"

Hades leaned forward, raising his brow. The tension was so thick I could've cut it with a knife. I felt the ground shake.

"I will face justice from you," Luke said, calmly. "You can torture me as much as want. But you have to let my friends leave - alive and unharmed."

"Luke, no!" I cried.

"Thalia had nothing to do with the theft of master bolt and your helm, I can promise that on the Styx," Luke said. "She and Annabeth are innocent. I'm the one you want."

Annabeth didn't say anything. Her expression was unreadable.

"You make a bold proposition, son of Hermes," Hades said. "Return my helm as well and I may consider your offer."

"Luke, are you crazy?" I asked.

"I would also like to use that bolt as a bargaining tool," Hades said, "you will yield it to me as well, and we will have a deal, boy."

"Thalia," Annabeth walked over to me, "it must've been Ares. He's working with… you know who."

That gave me an idea.

"Actually, Lord Hades, I have a better proposition," I said, stepping forward. "Luke didn't steal the helm. I'm not sure who did, but I know we were set up by someone."

"Set up?" the god asked.

"Ares," I said. I explained how we'd encountered him, and all about the backpack. I even added in a few 'I swear on the River Styx' sayings to make it more official.

"Ares must've swapped out my Yankees cap with the helm," Annabeth added in, helpfully.

"Ares stole my helm?" Hades asked, incredulous. "He is a spoiled brat who constantly craves attention, but this seems too far, even for him."

"But he has always been one to cause trouble," Persephone replied. "He is ruthless. It makes sense."

I pulled out Annabeth's Yankees cap, which was actually the helm of darkness. I offered it to the god.

"My friends and I will find Ares and bring him to justice," I said. I knew Ares wasn't the real puppeteer of this charade, but I wanted to discuss the truth with my father, not with Hades. I didn't want to bargain anything else.

"Hmm," the god mused. "I will let you go if you agree to bring Ares to justice… and if you yield the master bolt and that son of Hermes to me."

I bit the inside of my lip. Then an idea struck me. It was the worst idea I'd ever thought of in my life, but it might just save my skin... and Luke's.

Clearing my throat, I said, "Actually, I've got something I think you may find more valuable than the bolt."

"And what would that be?" Hades asked.

"My service," I said. "I could be your champion. You need someone to run errands for you when you're so busy, right? And what better way to get back at Olympus than to have a child of Zeus working for the Underworld?"

"You can't be serious, Thalia," Luke said, shaking his head. "Just let him have me."

"We came all this way," I snapped. Tears built up in my eyes. "I'm not letting you die."

"You foolish child," the god almost laughed at me. "You want to be  _my_ champion?"

"In exchange for letting us - all three of us leave, alive, yes," I said, "I will become your champion."

Hades looked like he wanted to mock me some more, but his wife interrupted him.

"You've never had a champion before, husband," Persephone argued. "She is a brave and powerful demigod. And plus, she is right - it  _is_  a way for us to get back at Olympus. You may not get a chance like this again."

I gave Persephone a grateful smile.

Hades scowled. "What if she becomes a traitor?"

"I swear on the Styx I won't betray you," I said, probably a little too quickly. Luke and Annabeth were both staring at me with horror. My heart was racing, and my head felt a little woozy. But there was no going back.

The prophecy said I'd lose something I wouldn't expect. I knew it couldn't be these two - they'd go through Tartarus for me, and I'd do the same for them. I'd give back the love they'd given me.

"See?" Persephone said. "She will be a brave hero. She may even be the hero of the prophecy!"

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound more convinced than I felt. "A champion of Hades as the hero of the prophecy. It's a win-win situation, right, uncle?"

Hades paused. I swore I could see the gears turning in his head for a moment. He began having a quiet, hurried conversation with his wife. Luke grabbed my hand. I tried to give him a hopeful smile, but I couldn't get an awful feeling out of my gut. Annabeth simply stared at me, lacing her fingers together.

"I'll be loyal to you too, guys," I said, determined. "No matter what the gods throw at me."

The gods turned back to us. I held my breath. The whole world seemed to pause for a moment.

"Very well then, Thalia Grace," Hades boomed. "I will make you my champion."


	18. I battle my jerk brother

Becoming the first ever Champion of Hades was more time-consuming than I thought it'd be.

First of all, Hades had to recite and chant a bunch of Ancient Greek scriptures. I was covered in some strange Underworld-y power. I got a sweet skull tattoo on my right shoulder, and I raditated some underworld-y energy, which meant I was going to a pretty powerful demigod.

I had to sign a ton of documents, which was painfully boring. They were in Ancient Greek, so I could read them. (But trust me, that was not a good thing.) Luke and Annabeth had to awkwardly wait around in the background. Meanwhile, I couldn't stop sweating. There was no going back from this. Luke kept staring at me with concern, but I just smiled at him.  _He_ was the reason I was doing this. I wasn't going to let anyone take Luke away from me.

Anyway, after some more documents, Hades gave me this skull ring (I was liking all this new bling).

"You have acquired powers of the Underworld," he told me, as I was observing my skull ring. "You will need time to learn how to use them." He stared at my ring. "As for the ring, you should pay attention to that, foremost. Should I ever need you for something, that ring will glow. It will also aide you in battle by allowing you to turn invisible at will."

"Understood," I said. I glanced at my friends, who were hopping around urgently. It was the new year, January first. We had to give the bolt back to my dad soon, or the whole world was doomed.

"Uncle, with all due respect, my friends and I need to leave so we can deliver the Master Bolt to my father," I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "As well as battling Ares."

"Of course," Hades said. He nodded at Persephone. "That fool is nearby the Santa Monica pier. I will send you and your friends there."

I nodded. I turned to my friends, who came and stood nearby me. Hades snapped his fingers. I suddenly felt dizzy, then really cold, like ice was growing on my skin. The area around me went from a light gray to pitch black in a few seconds. My stomach clenched, and then there was silence.

* * *

We emerged near the pier, the sun burning behind us.

My backpack was heavy with my father's bolt. My skin was pale clammy. I felt like I'd come back from the dead, which I suppose I technically had. In the distance, I could see smashed bottles of alcohol - remnants of NYE parties. I swore I could still hear party-goers in the distance as well. I wanted to collapse and sleep right there. But we had one day until the war.

"You should've told me earlier," I said to Luke, my voice tight.

"About what?" Luke asked. "Hades' helm? I didn't know it was stolen!"

I slapped him. "No! I meant about Ares and the bolt!"

Luke frowned. "He swore me to secrecy, Thalia… I couldn't say much. That's why I was prepared to…"

"You're not dying on me, Castellan," I told Luke.

"You became the Champion of Hades," Luke said, shaking his head. "Gods, Thalia-"

"I'll be the strongest demigod to ever live," I interrupted, kissing him on the cheek. "The prophecy needs a powerful demigod to complete it, right?"

"Speaking of the prophecy," Annabeth commented. She looked thoughtful. " _You shall go west and face the god who has turned._ It must be referring to Ares, not Hades."

" _You will be forced to join a rival to save a friend_ ," I said. I stared at my ring. "Obviously… I became Hades' champion to save Luke."

"Thalia, look," Luke said, grabbing my hand. He pointed at a man in the distance. "There he is."

There he was, waiting for us, in his black leather duster and his sunglasses, an aluminium baseball bat propped on his shoulder. His motorcycle rumbled beside him, its headlight turning the path red.

"Hey, sis," Ares said, seeming genuinely pleased to see me. "You were supposed to die."

"Nice to see you too, brother dearest," I snapped. "How about I give you a well-deserved kick to next week?"

"Thalia," Luke warned, grabbing my shoulder.

Ares' eyes blazed behind his sunglasses. "You've gotten real cocky, huh? You really screwed up a lot of my plans. Seems you've made an alliance with old Corpse Breath. Never thought you would've willingly become his champion." He laughed, like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Better than letting you start a war," I growled. "I knew that backpack was trouble."

"You were screwed from the very beginning, kid," Ares said. "It doesn't matter if Hades is your patron god. Dad is still going to let him have it. Poseidon won't get his apology, so he'll be ticked off as well. Hades will be annoyed that his helm got stolen. And bingo, we'll have a nice little three-way slugfest going."

Annabeth whimpered. Luke glared at Ares, blinking heavily.

"Don't forget, Thalia," Ares said, glancing at Luke, "it's all your boyfriend's fault. He was the one who stole the bolt in the first place."

"But he didn't steal the Helm of Darkness," I retorted, scowling. "If he didn't,  _you_ must've."

Ares shook his head. "Heh. Well, no, not personally. Gods can't take another's symbol of power. That's a big no-no."

"Who'd you send, then?" I asked. "One of your kids?"

My mind went to Max, and my stomach dropped. It couldn't be him, could it? He'd been there at the solstice, and he'd been acting a little weird recently…

_You will lose something you do not expect, in the end._

Did that mean I was going to lose my friendship with Max?

"I know who you're working for, by the way," I added. "Luke's on our side now. He's going to be a hero."

Ares just laughed. "We'll see if he survives long enough."

Luke just looked away.

"Let's get back to the problem at hand, sis," Ares said, turning back to me. "You're alive. I can't have you taking that bolt to Olympus. You just might get those hard-headed idiots to listen to you. So I've got to kill you. Nothing personal."

He snapped his fingers. The ground exploded at his feet and out charged a wild boar, even larger and uglier than the one whose head hung above the door of cabin seven at Camp Half-Blood. The beast pawed the sand, glaring at me with beady eyes as it lowered its razor-sharp tusks and waited for the command to kill.

"Oh wow, it's almost as ugly as you, brother dearest," I growled, pulling out my spear and Aegis.

"You'll be swallowing those words," Ares said, baring his teeth.

"Then why don't you fight me yourself?" I demanded. "You scared?"

Normally, it's a terrible idea to piss off a god, but I was done being a coward. I wasn't standing down from this idiot.

"In your adolescent dreams." But the god's sunglasses were starting to melt from the heat of his eyes. "No direct involvement. Sorry, sis. You're not at my level."

"We'll see about that," I muttered.

"Thalia, run!" Annabeth cried.

The boar charged.

I wasn't going to run. I wasn't going to hide behind my friends.

As the boar approached me, I held up Aegis. It squealed and ran around like a cockroach with its head cut off. I threw my spear right through its middle.

"One shot," I said proudly, picking up my spear from the animal's carcass. I turned to Ares. "Are you going to fight me now? Or are you going to hide behind another pet?"

Ares' face turned purple with rage. "Watch it, girl. I could turn you into-"

"A cockroach," I said. "Or a tapeworm, I'm sure. That'd save you from getting your godly hide whipped, wouldn't it?"

Flames danced along the top of his glasses. "Oh, man, you are really asking to be smashed into a grease spot."

I adjusted my jacket. "Come on, then! Fight me! If you win, you can turn me into whatever you want. If I win, you let me keep the bolt, and you piss off. How about it, brother dearest?"

Ares sneered, swinging the baseball bat off his shoulder. "How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?"

I held out my spear.

"That's cool, dead girl," he said. "Classic it is." The baseball bat changed into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt was a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth.

"You've made enough stupid decisions today, Thalia," Luke said, gently grabbing my shoulder. "How about we draw the line here?"

"Not until that coward is down on his knees," I growled.

Annabeth looked up at me, eyes shining. "Ares has strength, Thalia. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes. Be careful."

I nodded at her, and gave her a quick hug. She whimpered into my shirt.

Luke gave me a good luck kiss. "Be a braver fighter than I was, Thals."

"You all done saying goodbye?" Ares came toward me, his black leather duster trailing behind him, his sword glinting like fire in the sunrise. "I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

 _I'm not a coward, for one,_  I thought. I decided to cut the trash talk and focus on kicking this guy's butt. I bent my knees a little, holding out my shield.

_Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes._

Ares cleaved downward at my head, but I wasn't there.

My body thought for me. I scrambled out of the way, my shield appearing above my head. I dashed around to Ares' side, as quick as lightning, aiming my spear at his back. However, the god was just as quick. He twisted, and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine was deflected off the end of his sword hilt.

He grinned. "Not bad, not bad."

He slashed again. I jumped up into the air, the wind carrying me for a few meters. I remembered what Zephyros had said about my powers. Controlling the wind. I also remembered not to look down.

The wind zipped me around, helping me dodge Ares' strikes. I charged up my spear with electricity, my whole body tingling. I charged forward, my spear meeting Ares' sword. We parried for a bit.

"Get in close!" Luke yelled.

He was right. I tried to do just that, but Ares was waiting for it. He knocked my blade out of my hands and kicked me in the chest. I went airborne-twenty, maybe thirty feet. I held out my hand, feeling the wind wrap around me. I wavered around a bit and gave myself a rough landing, but thankfully I didn't break anything.

"It's her!" some voice screamed. "The fallen girl!"

I was seeing double. My chest felt like it had been hit with a battering ram, but I managed to get to my feet. I couldn't look away from Ares for fear he'd slice me in half, but out of the corner of my eye I saw red lights flashing on the shoreline boulevard. Car doors were slamming.

"There, officer!" somebody yelled. "See?"

A gruff cop voice: "Looks like that kid on TV... what the heck..."

"That guy's armed," another cop said. "Call for backup."

I rolled over as Ares blade slammed into the pavement.

Using the wind, I jumped into the air, out of reach from Ares' blade. I crashed down again, my shield just barely protecting me from Ares' sword. Safe to say I hadn't mastered flying yet. My legs wobbled. Ares held out his sword, forcing me to back up.

"Admit it, sis," Ares said. "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."

Thunder boomed overhead. I saw cracks appearing beneath my feet. A thigh bone appeared nearby my foot.

My senses were working overtime. That's what ADHD was for: it keeps you alive in battle. I was wide awake, noticing every little detail.

I could see where Ares was tensing. I could tell which way he would strike. At the same time, I was aware of Annabeth and Luke, thirty feet to my left. I saw a second cop car pulling up, siren wailing. Spectators, people who had been wandering the streets because of the earthquake, were staring together. I heard people screaming about the 'fallen girl'. Some preachers had shown up and were, well, preaching.

Among the crowd, I thought I saw a few who were walking with the strange, trotting gait of disguised satyrs. There were shimmering forms of spirits, too, as if the dead had risen from Hades to watch the battle. I heard the flap of leathery wings circling somewhere above.

Thunder continued booming. Wind howled.

I continued back, the wind tousling my hair. I stepped over the bones at my feet. Ares was fast. The tip of his blade ripped my sleeve and grazed my forearm.

A police voice on a megaphone said, "Drop the guns. Set them on the ground. Now!"

Ares' weapon was flickering; sometimes it looked like a shotgun, sometimes a two-handed sword. I wondered what the Mist had done to my spear and shield.

Ares turned to glare at our spectators, which gave me a moment to breathe. There were five police cars now, and a line of officers crouching behind them, pistols trained on us.

"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone!"

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the patrol cars. The police barely had time to dive for cover before their vehicles exploded. The crowd behind them scattered, screaming.

Ares roared with laughter. "Now, little hero. Let's add you to the barbecue."

I used a faint breeze to get a jump on him, but he was prepared. My blade was deflected, and if I didn't have my shield I think my head would've been knocked in. The storm in the sky continued brewing. I felt it inside me, like an animal on the hunt, ready to strike. At the same time, the ground beneath me was rumbling, demanding to be let open. My skull ring burned on my finger. I hid my smirk behind a shadow.

Ares came forward, grinning confidently. I lowered my blade, as if I were too exhausted to go on.

 _Almost there_ , I told the forces of nature. For once, the sky and the Underworld could work together.

And all Hades went lose.

I yelled out. A lightning bolt shredded through the clouds, slamming right into Ares. He was flung backwards, where he fell into a hole that had opened in the middle of the pathway. Using the wind to give me a boost, I raced towards him. He grabbed onto the edge of the hole, covered in bones holding him down. I feinted throwing my spear nearby his head. He held up his sword. But he was disorientated, not ready for my trick.

I threw the spear at the god's heel instead. The roar that followed made Hades' earthquake look like a minor event. The bones were blasted back about fifty feet. I had to jump into the air to avoid them.

Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flowed from a gash in the war god's boot. The expression on his face was beyond hatred. It was pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.

He limped toward me, muttering ancient Greek curses. He held up his sword.

Something stopped him.

It was as if a cloud covered the sun, but worse. Light faded. Sound and colour drained away. A cold, heavy presence passed over us, slowing time, dropping the temperature to freezing, and making me feel like life was hopeless, fighting was useless. I almost fell out of my spot in the sky.

The darkness lifted. Ares looked stunned.

Ares lowered his sword.

"You have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Thalia Grace. Beware."

His body began to glow. I looked away so I wouldn't get disintegrated into ashes.

The light died. Ares was gone.

Annabeth's hat - the real deal - was sitting on the sand. I picked it up and walked over to my friends. I saw the Furies flying overhead.

"Was that good enough for you?" I yelled up at them.

They landed in front of me. The middle one, Alecto, stepped forward, holding out her fiery whip.

"You kept your word, demigod," she said, looking disappointed, as if I might not be such a good dinner after all. "You have my lord's regards." She ran a forked tongue over her leathery, green lips. "Live well, Thalia Grace. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again…"

She cackled, savouring the idea. Then she and her sisters rose on their bats' wings, fluttered into the smoke-filled sky, and disappeared.

I joined Luke and Annabeth, who were staring at me in amazement.

"Thalia, that was…" Luke shook his head. "... terrifying."

"So cool!" Annabeth cheered.

I didn't feel cool or terrified. I just wanted to pass out for 3 days.

"Did you guys feel that... whatever it was?" I asked.

They both nodded uneasily.

"It's him," I said. "The Crooked One."

Luke held my hand. "Got the bolt?"

I glanced into the stupid backpack. The bolt was still there. I realised it was such a small thing to start a world war over.

"We have to get back to New York," I said. "By tonight."

"That's impossible," Annabeth replied, "unless we-"

"Fly," I agreed.

She stared at me. "And where are we going to get the money for three plane tickets?"

Luke interrupted her with a classic Luke grin. "I think I can handle that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out some cool art for this chapter: http://fav.me/dd7rizh


	19. I return to Olympus

It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality. Chiron had told me that long ago. As usual, I didn't appreciate his wisdom until much later.

With some words and hints from Luke (who'd done most of the talking), the L.A news put together a whole story about how a crazy man (aka Ares) had kidnapped us in New York and taken us across the country on a ten day 'Odyssey of Terror'. Apparently, for some preachers this 'confirmed' I was an omen from God.

The story the reporters put together was this:

Thalia and her friends had caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from their captor (and afterwards, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus- "Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had pushed Thalia out of the window of the St. Louis Arch. How I survived depended on who you were asking - a preacher or a scientist. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Finally, brave and heroic Thalia had stolen a gun from her captor in Los Angeles and battled him shotgun-to-rifle on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the captor had fled. No fatalities had occurred. Thalia and her two friends were safely in police custody.

Luke did a lot of fake-crying. He was freakishly good at it - even, for a bit, I thought he was being legit. Annabeth and I joined in, which wasn't that hard, to be honest.

"We're so thankful we were rescued by the police," Luke sniffled. "All we want now is to return to our home in New York." He kept crying, and continuing to give heartwarming speeches. The reporters and police were so moved they managed to raise enough money to buy us 3 plane tickets to New York. Luke sure was good at playing the part of the fool - heck, even  _I_ was partly moved by his speeches. He dragged me back to reality by sending me winks out of the corner of his eye whenever the reporters weren't looking.

I wasn't so thrilled about the plane ride. I didn't like being up in the air. I knew, being a daughter of Zeus, I was in my element up there, but I still couldn't get rid of the cold fear in my gut. I had a mini panic-attack on the flight, and the air hostesses had to take me to the bathroom so I could… have a moment to myself.

I was extremely relieved when the plane finally landed in La Guardia. The press followed us around for a while, but Luke came to our rescue again, managing to lead them away by wearing Annabeth's hat and shouting 'they're over by Gate 20! Come on!' and then joining us at the baggage claim.

We split up at the taxi stand. I told Annabeth and Luke to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened. They protested, and it was hard to let them go after all we'd been through, but I knew I had to do this last part of the quest by myself. If things went wrong, if the gods didn't believe me... I wanted Annabeth and Luke to survive to tell Chiron the truth.

I hopped in a taxi and headed into Manhattan.

Thirty minutes later, I walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building. I got a massive hit of deja vu. It was just like when I came the first time, on my birthday. That seemed like eons ago, though in reality it was probably only about a week ago.

I brushed some excess dirt off my jacket. I probably looked like a hobo of some kind. I hadn't got a good sleep in twenty-four hours.

I went up to the guard at the front desk and said, "Six hundredth floor."

The guard was reading some book called… what was it, Parry Trotter? Meh, I wasn't much of a reader. Apparently the guard was really enjoying it since it took him a while to look up.

"No such floor, kiddo," he said. He then scowled at me. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"No," I said quickly. "I need an audience with Lord Zeus."

The guard titled his head. "You're that kid that snuck in last week, aren't you?"

I sighed. "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm here to see Lord Zeus."

The guard shook his head. "No appointment, no audience, kiddo. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced."

I showed him the Master Bolt in my backpack. His eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"Uh," he scrambled around in fright, pulling out a green keycard. "Here you go! You should know what to do. Make sure no one else is with you!"

I did as he told me. As soon as the elevator doors closed, I slipped the key into the slot. The card disappeared and a new button appeared on the console, a red one that said 600. Just like last time. I put a hand over my heart, hoping that it would calm it down. It didn't.

I pressed the button and waited for a long time. 'Walking on Sunshine' by Katrina & The Waves began playing. I resisted the urge to smash the loudspeaker, because a cheesy song was the last thing I wanted to hear.

Finally the doors opened with a  _ding!_ I got out, and my heart's beating got even faster.

Even though I had been to Olympus just a week before, it was still breathtaking. I walked up the white, marble stairs to the door, trying not to look at Manhattan below me. I didn't need another plane-bathroom episode. I kept a steady pace, gazing at the village of Olympus. I saw godlings, satyrs, and other creatures eyeing me cautiously. Normally I would've glared at them, but my hammering heart kept me distracted. My eyes glanced over the beautiful, shining buildings. Annabeth would've loved this stuff.

After a dazed walk through Olympus, I finally reached the palace.

Once again, even though I'd seen it before, my legs stopped moving and I just gaped at it for a few moments. I shocked myself to keep moving.

Something hit me as I came a bit closer. I realized Hades must've built his palace to resemble this one. He wasn't welcomed in Olympus except on the winter solstice, so he'd built his own Olympus underground. Now that he was my patron god, I almost felt sorry for him. Sometimes, Olympus wasn't as wholesome and inviting as it was painted out to be.

I walked into the throne room. It was just like it had been when I came on the winter solstice, except much more empty. Only two gods were here now, seated at the back of the room on two giant-sized thrones. My legs trembling, I approached them.

The gods were in giant human form, as Hades had been, but I could barely look at them without feeling a tingle, as if my body were starting to burn. I clenched my fists, fighting against it. Zeus, the Lord of the Gods, and my father, wore a dark blue pinstripe suit. He sat on a simple throne of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled gray and black like a storm cloud. The same black as my hair. His face was proud and intimidating, just like mine. He also shared my electric blue eyes. The air around him crackled and smelled like ozone.

The god sitting next to him was his brother, without a doubt, but he was dressed very differently. He reminded me of that crazy doorman from the Lotus Hotel. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. His skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black. His face had that same brooding look that I'd seen on rebellious kids. But his eyes, sea-green, were surrounded by sun-crinkles that told me he smiled a lot, too.

His throne was a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was the simple swivelling kind, with a black leather seat and a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of a pole, however, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips.

There was a tension in the air that did not calm my heart.

I approached my father's throne and bowed. "Lord Zeus." I turned to Poseidon. "Lord Poseidon."

"So this is the girl of yours that caused so much trouble, brother?" Poseidon asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not surprising, considering you broke the oath for her. Seems she's allied herself with Hades, too."

Zeus scowled. "Silence. Let us hear what she has to say."

He looked down at me. He seemed proud, from what I could tell. The sky, after all, was loud, dramatic, and stubborn. It could be greatly rewarding, but also deadly. The sky was impatient, yet it never yielded. Sometimes, it was unreadable. And somehow, I could tell my father was proud of me.

I recited my story. I didn't bring up Luke's betrayal, but I did talk about the whole Champion of Hades thing. When I finished, I placed the Master Bolt at my father's feet.

Zeus opened his palm. The lightning bolt flew into it. As he closed his fist, the metallic points flared with electricity, until he was holding what looked more like the classic thunderbolt, a twenty-foot javelin of arcing, hissing energy that made the hairs on my scalp rise.

Zeus frowned. "She tells the truth. But that Ares would do such a thing... it is most unlike him."

"He is proud and impulsive," Poseidon said. "It runs in the family."

"Lord?" I asked.

They both said, "Yes?"

I bit my lip. I had to tell them the truth. "Ares didn't act alone. Someone else came up with the idea."

I told them all about my dreams. I was careful not to mention anything Luke told me.

"There's something stirring in that pit," I said. "Something powerful and evil is down there… something older than the gods."

Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other. They had a quick, intense discussion in Ancient Greek. I only caught one word. Father.

Poseidon made some kind of suggestion, but Zeus cut him off. Poseidon tried to argue. Zeus held up his hand angrily.

"We will speak of this no more," Zeus said. "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal."

He rose and looked at me. His expression softened, just a little.

"You did well on your quest, daughter," he said. "I believe that you can be a great hero - perhaps even the one that the prophecy spoke of."

I nodded. "Thank you, Father."

"Do not disappoint me, Thalia," Zeus said. "Be careful what you sacrifice. Hades is crafty. You may regret your decision to be his champion."

I glanced at my skull ring. "I understand, Father."

Zeus nodded. "You will receive your reward when you return to the demigod camp. Whatever you choose to do with it, I have faith that you will succeed."

He disappeared with a flash of lightning, thunder shaking the palace. I stared at the spot where he'd just been for a few moments.

Now it was just Poseidon and myself.

"Your father," Poseidon sighed, "has always had a flair for dramatic exits. I think he would've done well as the god of theatre."

I found myself smiling at that, of all things.

"You know what is in the pit, don't you, child?" Poseidon asked.

I nodded. "Kronos, King of the Titans."

Even in the throne room of Olympus, far away from Tartarus, the name Kronos darkened the room, made the hearth fire seem not quite so warm on my back.

Poseidon gripped his trident. "In the First War, Thalia, Zeus cut our father Kronos into a thousand pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father, Ouranos. Zeus cast Kronos's remains into the darkest pit of Tartarus. The Titan army was scattered, their mountain fortress on Etna destroyed, their monstrous allies driven to the farthest corners of the earth. And yet Titans cannot die, any more than we gods can. Whatever is left of Kronos is still alive in some hideous way, still conscious in his eternal pain, still hungering for power."

I bit my lip. "He's healing. He's coming back."

Poseidon shook his head. "From time to time, over the eons, Kronos has stirred. He enters men's nightmares and breathes evil thoughts. He wakens restless monsters from the depths. But to suggest he could rise from the pit is another thing."

I looked up. "That's what he intends, Uncle. That's what he said. My friend..." I trailed off. "I know someone who was working for him. He said so."

Poseidon was silent for a long time.

"Lord Zeus has closed discussion on this matter," he finally said. "He will not allow talk of Kronos. You have completed your quest, niece. That is all you need to do."

I wanted to say something more, but I held back. I didn't need anymore gods angry at me.

"Lord Poseidon," I asked. "Did you believe I had stolen the bolt?"

Poseidon shook his head. "No. I had my suspicions that it was something greater than the force of a mere demigod. But Olympus was too distraught to hear it."

I nodded. "Understood, Uncle."

I turned around to leave after another bow, when I heard Poseidon's voice.

"Beware, child," he warned. "The fate of a hero is not kind. Be careful how you choose to live your life."

My legs shivered. I turned around and thanked him, then I left.

As I walked back through the city of the gods, conversations stopped. The muses paused their concert. I swear I saw my namesake muse, Thalia, wink at me. People and satyrs and naiads all turned toward me, their faces filled with respect and gratitude, and as I passed, they knelt. I felt pride race through me. I was a hero, a real hero! Just like Luke said I'd be.

Speaking of Luke, I decided it was time to head back to camp.


	20. The prophecy comes true (Finale)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is the final chapter, guys. It's a long one. I'll talk more at the end. :)

We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke's quest, so of course everybody treated us as like royalty. It was about time. According to camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honour, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence.

Annabeth's shroud was beautiful - gray silk with embroidered owls. It was kind of a shame to burn it.

Being the daughter of Zeus, I didn't have any cabinmates, so the Ares cabin volunteered to make my shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.

It was fun to burn.

Luke's one was interesting. It was full of many different colours and patterns, like a ton of different people had all put their input on it. Honestly, it looked like a huge mess, but Luke seemed to like it. Well, it  _was_ way better than mine...

As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out s'mores, I was surrounded by Grover and some satyrs, Annabeth's friends from Athena, and Luke's Hermes cabin-mates. We were all celebrating the new year as well, so the party was really getting wild. Some campers even started throwing s'mores at each other. Now  _that_  was entertaining.

The only ones who weren't partying were Max and his siblings. Max looked more hurt than angry, at least compared to his siblings. Whatever. I'd let 'em sulk about it. I'd proven myself to be stronger than their father!

Okay, maybe I felt a  _little_ bad for Max. He'd been my friend after all, one of the only few people who'd accepted me at camp. He was a nice guy.

_You will lose something you do not expect, in the end._

Was that what the prophecy was talking about? Losing Max's friendship?

My thoughts were interrupted with Dionysus' 'welcome-home' speech. You'll see why I put that in quotations.

"Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get herself killed and now she'll have an even bigger head," he droned. "Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday..."

I moved back into Cabin 1. For once, the annoying statue of my dad staring at me didn't bother me. I almost felt at home. Then I noticed a letter on my bed. It had golden, fine print on front and smooth paper. I opened it up, raising my brow.

It was a letter of invitation to an expensive school in mid-west New York. It talked a whole lot about its supposedly amazing curriculum and programs for students with learning disabilities. It was valid until the end of February. My jaw fell open. It was like a dream-come-true school for demigods.

I frowned. Who'd sent me this letter?

Then I remembered.

_You will receive your reward when you return to the demigod camp. Whatever you choose to do with it, I have faith that you will succeed._

My father's reward. Of course. He wanted me to make a choice: I could venture back into the mortal world and accept the risks, or stay here at camp.

Believe it or not, I found myself wanting to return to the mortal world. Sure, it was dangerous, with monsters on my tail, but it gave me  _freedom_. Normality. At the same time, I didn't want to leave my friends here at camp. I wanted to train and become stronger, especially with all my new powers.

For the new few days, I read the school's letter every night. Why couldn't I have both? Life wasn't fair.

January passed.

During the month, Grover went on a mini quest of his own, and survived. He'd done well enough to please the council. In fact, they granted him a searcher's license to go and find the nature god Pan. He came to my cabin late afternoon to share his goodbye.

"Good luck, buddy," I told him, trying to keep the sadness out of my voice. He was a good friend, after all. "You'll be the first to find him."

"Thanks, Thalia," Grover said, sweating. "You look after yourself. Don't… don't sneak up to Olympus again."

I laughed. "Oh don't you worry, I'm done with Olympus for a looonnnnggg time."

I tried to stay optimistic for Grover's sake. The fact that no searcher had ever come back in two thousand years ... well, I decided not to think about that. Grover would be the first. He had to be.

Aside from that and playing Capture the Flag, I spent a lot of time training my new powers. I hadn't got the hang of flying yet. I'd lost count of how many times I'd slammed into trees or cabins. As for the Underworld powers, I'd opened a few small crevices, and summoned a zombie or too. Some of the Hermes kids wanted me to use my powers to pull pranks on other cabins.

Max was giving me the cold shoulder. It was pissing me off. Fine. I didn't want to talk to him either! Luckily, Luke was getting better. He was slowly reverting back to his old, playful self, and I loved goofing off with him. Every moment I was falling more and more in love with... ugh, that sounds so cheesy.

Anyway, Annabeth seemed just as fine as well. She was spending a lot of time with her siblings, talking about architecture and other nerdy stuff. I was happy for her. Everything was going smoothly.

Well, I wanted to believe that.

From time to time, I'd walk past the Big House, glance up at the attic windows, and think about the Oracle. I tried to convince myself that its prophecy had come to completion.

_You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._

Been there, done that - even though the traitor god had turned out to be Ares rather than Hades.

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._

Check. One master bolt delivered. One helm of darkness back on Hades's oily head.

_You shall be forced to join a rival to save a friend._

I'd become Hades' champion to save Luke, and I  _really_ did not like that god.

_And you will lose something you do not expect, in the end._

It must've been referring to my friendship with Max. Nothing else made sense. Yet, thinking about it still made me uneasy…

The end of February came, and I only had one more day to decide whether or not I wanted to go to the fancy school.

I didn't eat much of my dinner that night. I tried talking to Allyson Gardner from the Demeter cabin, who'd forgiven me after I'd pretended to be her at that Winter Solstice. She was nice, but all I could think about was that stupid deadline.

At the bonfire, the senior counsellors awarded the end-of-summer beads. I got my own leather necklace, and when I saw the bead for my first year, I was glad the firelight covered my blushing. The design was pitch black, with a silver lightning-bolt in the middle.

"The choice was unanimous," Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Daughter of Zeus at this camp, and the quest she undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"

The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares's cabin felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause. Luke put his arms around us. My eyes were watering, and I couldn't stop smiling.

These people were all my family now, and I had to make a choice whether or not to leave them behind. It should've been obvious - staying with friends for an entire year, training with some sweet powers, or sitting in a boring classroom.

But I missed the mortal world. I wanted to be out there in the world, exploring. It was the closest thing I had to freedom.

I didn't get much sleep that night.

The next day, I spent some more time sparring with Luke, and discussing the issue with him.

"If you really want to leave, Thalia, then I understand," he said. "I'll miss you, but we can IM everyday. I want you to be happy."

I sighed, trying not to cry.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you too," he replied, giving me a kind smile.

I sighed, tiredly. My arms stung. "Man, I need a break."

Luke nodded. "I'll go and get us some Cokes." He winked at my confused expression. "I smuggled them in last week. Stay here, I'll be right back!"

He ran off. I sighed, leaning against a broken dummy. I wiped the sweat off my brow.

"Thalia!" a familiar voice cried.

I turned around. Annabeth was running up to me, holding a large scrapbook. Her eyes were wide with that childish excitement I loved so much.

"Hey, Annie," I said, giving her a grin. "What's up?"

"I wanna show you something," she replied, grabbing my arm. "Come with me!"

I followed her out of the arena. She led me through the forest, where the Nymphs waved at me. Annabeth didn't stop until we reached a little creek, nearby where we'd play Capture the Flag. We sat on a big rock, underneath some trees.

"What'd you bring me out here for, Annie?" I asked, tilting my head.

"I wanted some privacy," she said, and rolled her eyes. "There's people running around everywhere out there."

"Good point," I admitted.

Annabeth opened up her scrapbook. There were a series of drawings of…

"Olympus…?" I asked.

Annabeth nodded. "What do you think?"

She flipped through the scrapbook, showing me multiple drawings of Olympus. On one side of the page was a comparison of Olympus: how it looked now, and the other side was a complete redesign. As well as that, there were drawings of shrines to various gods, some of which I didn't even recognise. They were all surprisingly beautiful and elaborate.

"These are amazing, Annie," I said, in awe. "Did you really draw all this?"

Annabeth nodded proudly. "I bet once the gods see these new designs, they'll definitely want to use them!"

I frowned. I suddenly felt like a parent that had to tell their child the harsh reality of the world.

"They're great, Annie, but I don't think the gods will want to redesign Mount Olympus," I replied. "It's been the way it is for thousands of years."

Annabeth scowled. I felt the atmosphere change. The expression didn't fit her young face at all; it made her look a lot older and creepier.

"They won't have a choice," she said, darkly.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth's hair hid her face. "Don't you ever hate the world, Thalia? Wish you could tear it down and build it up again from scratch?"

My forehead creased. What she was going on about?

"Yeah, life's unfair," I replied, "but I don't want to tear the world down."

Annabeth ripped the page with the drawing of current Olympus out of the book. She crumpled it into a little ball and threw it into the creek. I gasped. One of the first things you learn at Camp Half Blood is: don't litter. You'll hear from the nymphs and the naiads. They'll get even. You'll crawl into bed one night and find your sheets filled with centipedes and mud.

"I've learnt a lot these past few months," she said. "The way the world is now… the gods act like it's perfect." She laughed, heartlessly. "But it's not. We demigods are ignored by our parents. Monsters attack us every second. We are literally  _half-god_ , but we are treated worse than any normal kid."

She kept ripping out pages, muttering 'trash' under her breath.

"Annabeth, stop," I said, grabbing her arm. "What's gotten into you?"

Annabeth turned to me with a twisted smile. It looked so broken, so wrong, that I let go of her in fright.

"Of course you wouldn't understand," she laughed. "Luke didn't either. He's just as stupid as you are. I suppose," she shrugged, "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

She snapped her fingers. A small fire burned a hole in the ground at my feet. Out crawled something glistening black, about the size of my hand. A scorpion.

I started to go for my spear.

"I wouldn't," Annabeth cautioned. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."

"Annabeth, what-"

Then I realised. That young voice in my dream. It was  _Annabeth's_  voice.

"You," I said, breathless. My chest had gone tight. "No, t-this isn't right. This is a nightmare. This isn't happening."

Annabeth cackled. "You may've been able to fool Luke, but you won't get through to me, Thalia. Didn't you feel the darkness growing, the monsters growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? We're all pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half-bloods. This world is imperfect, incomplete. They made it this way. They broke the world."

I could barely breathe anymore. The scorpion crawled onto my pants, and I slumped down. Annabeth was staring down at me, that psychotic smile on her face.

"You," I said. "You serve Kronos."

The air got colder.

"You should be careful with names, Thalia," Annabeth warned.

I gritted my teeth. "Kronos got you to steal the master bolt and the helm. He spoke to you in your dreams."

Annabeth frowned. "Now, I didn't steal the bolt - that was Luke. I did, however, steal the helm. It was pathetically easy, too - the gods are so arrogant they just left their symbols of power right by their thrones."

"Annabeth, Kro- he's brainwashing you," I said.

"You're wrong," Annabeth said. "I first met him after I almost died when we first got to camp. He did indeed speak to me in my dreams. He told me of all the monsters I would encounter. He told me his suspicions about Luke. He had a feeling that Luke may betray him. And what do you know? He was right. Luke is pathetic. He couldn't control his worthless feelings for you. He will be the first to suffer."

I gritted my teeth, the scorpion staring at me with its beady, black eyes. "Don't you dare call Luke pathetic, you… you…"

"You're right," Annabeth agreed, sadistically. " _You're_  even more pathetic than he is. I can't believe you actually thought I was your friend."

A storm began forming above me. Tears ran down my face.

"Of course, you never could control your temper," Annabeth shrugged. "I knew about Ares, too. He caught me while I was running away, but I was too smart for him. I convinced him to help me, promising a Great War. The fool was hooked. My mother had given me my invisibility cap, so I decided to swap the two out. The helm was in the backpack, appearing to be my cap. I played the innocent card - which was incredibly easy - so you would suspect  _Ares_  of the swapping out. But it was truthfully my idea."

"Hades could've killed you," I said.

"Oh, he would've taken you and Luke first," Annabeth replied. "And besides, my master had given me a little power to get out should I have needed to."

"You're sick," I spat, the raining pouring down. Lightning crackled across the clouds.

"You and that fool Luke were supposed to die down there, what with those pathetic cursed shoes," Annabeth said. She shrugged. "Oh well, as I said, if you want something right, you have to do it yourself."

She held up her knife, looking like a psychotic killer.

"You're being used," I said. "You and Ares both."

"I've been used?" Annabeth's voice turned shrill. "Look at yourself, Thalia. What has your father ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You've only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back to their caves. All except the strongest - the ones who serve him. Then we will rebuild the Earth from scratch. We will fix the world. We'll make it  _perfect_!"

"Call off the bug," I growled. "If you're so strong, fight me yourself"

Annabeth smiled. "You can't fool me, Thalia. I am not Ares. My lord is awaiting me. I have many more quests to undertake."

I cried, "Annabeth-"

Annabeth raised a hand. "Goodbye, Thalia. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it."

She slashed her knife in an arc and disappeared in a ripple of darkness.

The scorpion lunged.

I swatted it away with my hand and pulled out my spear. The thing jumped at me and I cut it in half in midair. I was about to congratulate myself until I looked down at my hand. My palm had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. The thing had gotten me after all.

Sixty seconds, Annabeth had told me.

My vision went foggy, and my ears pounded. I could barely even feel the icy rain lashing down on me.

I had to get back to camp. If I collapsed out here, my body would be dinner for a monster. Nobody would ever know what had happened.

My legs felt like lead. My forehead was burning. I stumbled toward the camp, and the nymphs stirred from their trees.

"Help," I croaked. "Please..."

Two of them took my arms, pulling me along. I remember making it to the clearing, a counsellor shouting for help, a centaur blowing a conch horn.

 _You will lose something you do not expect_ ,  _in the end._

Of course. Annabeth had been the last person I suspected to betray me.

And I'd lost her. I cried out one last time.

Then everything went black.

* * *

I woke up with a drinking straw in my mouth. I was sipping something that tasted like burgers and fries. I know that sounds weird, but it was really good. It's called nectar.

I opened my eyes.

I was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the Big House, my right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Luke sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead.

"Hey," I said.

"Oh, Thalia," Luke said, his forehead creasing. "Thank the Gods. You were turning grey when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing…"

"Now, now," Chiron's voice said. "Thalia's constitution deserves some of the credit."

He was sitting near the foot of my bed in human form, which was why I hadn't noticed him yet. His lower half was magically compacted into the wheelchair, his upper half dressed in a coat and tie. He smiled, but his face looked weary and pale.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Horrible," I groaned.

"Understandable," Chiron sighed. "Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."

Between sips of nectar, I told them the story. The room was quiet for a long time.

"Oh, Gods," Luke was completely pale. "Annabeth… I… I thought there was something strange about her, but I never…"

"This must be reported to Olympus," Chiron murmured. "I will go at once."

"Annabeth is out there right now," I said. "I have to go after her."

Chiron shook his head. "No, Thalia. The gods-"

"Won't even talk about Kronos," I snapped. "Zeus declared the matter closed!"

Chiron grabbed the edge of the bed. "Thalia, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready."

I clenched my left fist. My hand tingled. Luke gently grabbed my shoulder.

Chiron sighed deeply. "You will be a great hero, child. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I'm right about the path ahead of you..."

Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.

"All right!" Chiron shouted. "Fine!" He sighed in frustration. "The gods have their reasons, Thalia. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing."

"We can't just sit back and do nothing," I insisted.

"We will not sit back," Chiron promised. "But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unravelled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come."

I just glared at him, stubbornly.

Chiron put his hand on my ankle. "You'll have to trust me, Thalia. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice..." I got the feeling that he had a very definite opinion, and it was taking all his willpower not to advise me. "But you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision."

I wanted to protest. I wanted to ask him more questions. But his expression told me there could be no more discussion; he had said as much as he could.

Luke gave my shoulder a slight squeeze. "Don't worry, Thalia. You'll make the right choice."

I glared at the ceiling. "I don't want to sit around here, Luke. Annabeth is out there." A tear slipped out of my eye. "Why didn't I notice the signs sooner? I could've… I could've saved her…"

_I can't believe you actually thought I was your friend._

Luke shook his head. "It was Annabeth's choice to join Kronos. She'll face the consequences of her actions. We will make sure of that, together."

I nodded at him, putting on a determined smile. I didn't admit that it hurt my face.

"I want to go outside," I told him.

Luke frowned. "Thalia, you're too-"

"I want to go outside," I insisted. "I'm fine, really!"

I didn't want to lie in bed with her out there. Luke sighed, helping me stand up.

I managed a step forward. Then another, still leaning heavily on Luke. Argus followed us outside, but he kept his distance.

By the time we reached the porch, my face was beaded with sweat. My stomach had twisted into knots.

But I had managed to make it all the way to the railing.

It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked me.

I stared at my hands. "I don't know."

I told him I got the feeling Chiron wanted me to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but I wasn't sure that's what  _I_  wanted. I admitted I'd feel bad about leaving Luke alone, though…

"If you really want to leave, I'm leaving today as well," a new voice said. It made me tense up.

"Max," I replied, turning around. The guy in question was there, a bag over his shoulder.

"I heard you were going to the same school as me," he replied, staring at his shoes. "We can go together. If you want."

He turned his gaze towards a silhouette of a short, Indian woman in the distance. She seemed to be walking around impatiently.

I turned to Luke.

"I'll be fine," he said, giving me a supportive smile. "I know you want to get out there."

"You'll be all alone," I replied.

"I'll be in contact with you," he said. "Don't worry about me. When you come back for the summer, we'll hunt Annabeth down together. In the meantime, I'll be training for then."

I nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

We hugged, and I kissed him on the cheek. I felt a spark of something, other than electricity. I blushed, deeply. Luke walked away, waving at me one last time.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well," Max cleared his throat. "You'd better go and get your bags."

"Yeah," I replied, frowning. "I probably should."

I turned away to do just that, but he called out, "Thalia,"

I looked back at him.

"Sorry," he apologised, sweating. "For everything. I… I heard what happened to Annabeth, and… you becoming… the champion of Hades… and defeating my dad… I just… I didn't know what to say."

I sighed. "Don't worry about it. We'll have plenty of time to discuss it at school, okay?"

Max nodded, smirking. "And I'll finally kick your butt."

I laughed. "We'll see about that, Bob the Builder."

I stuck my tongue out at him as Argus followed me to my cabin to help pack my bags for home. Inside there, I stared at the hippie statue of my dad.

"I'll make you proud," I told him. "I promise."

I slung my bag over my shoulder, racing off. It was time to enter the mortal world once again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this is the final chapter! We've finished the first one, guys. :) I don't completely like this story and I probably would've changed a few things, but oh well. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Gave me an excuse to re-read the PJO books lol. Sea of Monsters will probably be coming out in a few weeks. I'll post an update on here when it comes out. Be on the lookout for it.
> 
> As I've always said, thank you for reading! This story wouldn't have continued without your support. You guys all rock. See you in the next story! Peace out. :)


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